Ilia Topuria in victory against Max Holloway. Photo: Reproduction/UFC
Towards a new title fight in the Ultimate and this time in the lightweight division (up to 70,3kg.) Ilia Topuria intrigued the MMA community by announcing the split from his longtime team ahead of the UFC 317, which takes place on June 28. Keeping an eye on the situation, Ray Longo, a renowned coach in the sport, questioned the stance adopted by the former featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg).
“I’m going to agree with Cormier, too. This (new) coach could come in for a week or two and, I’m not saying it’s going to make a huge difference, but he could maintain what he was doing. Everybody makes that decision after they’ve been at the top for a while, you know what I mean? Would he have made that decision when he was coming up, when he really needed the guy?” Longo said on the Anik & Florian Podcast.
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Continuing with his speech, the coach indicated that Topuria has possibly been dissatisfied with coaches since the beginning of his career.
“That’s where I get a little bit irritated by it. Like, if you’re going to do it, do it in the beginning. I go back to what Teddy Atlas told me in that interview, he said that Gus Damato always told him, ‘What a guy does in the end is what he always wanted to do in the beginning,’” he concluded.
Ilia Topuria with his brother and former coaches after his UFC victory. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @iliatopuria
protagonist of UFC 317, Topuria prepares to face Charles of the Bronx on June 28. The bookmakers' favorite, the Spanish-Georgian and his former coaches avoided any fatigue and declared that the relationship and respect remain unchanged even after the split.
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