Ilia Topuria poses with two UFC belts after victory against Charles of the Bronx. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.
New number one in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, Ilia Topuria is experiencing a great moment in his career. After beating three former champions in a row, all by knockout, the Spanish-Georgian began to impress the MMA community with his achievements in the octagon. The athlete currently has 17 wins and no losses on his record.
Victorious in UFC 317, Topuria caught Matt Brown's attention after overcoming Charles of the Bronx and become lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg). In the veteran's view, the new MMA star is about to start being compared to, in the view of many, the greatest fighter of all time, Jon Jones.
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“To me, Ilia is about to start being compared to Jon Jones. For me, if he goes out and beats an Arman (Tsarukyan) or maybe Islam (Makhachev) coming back to lightweight or if (Ilia) moves up if Islam wins or (fights Jack) Della Maddalena, we're starting to talk about the greatness of the level of Jon Jones. Start making comparisons, but if he beats a Paddy (Pimblett), he’ll come back and fight some of the tougher guys after that, not that Paddy isn’t tough, I shouldn’t say that, but we know he’ll come back and fight some of those tougher guys after that at some point. I just want to see that now,” Brown said on the The Fighter vs. The Writer.
Following his speech, Brown expressed doubt about which athlete between Topuria and Jones has the best record in terms of winning history in the sport and highlighted the importance of an eventual victory over Arman Tsarukyan.
“The guy is on the edge. I looked at Jones’ resume and was comparing some of the three fights he’s had where he’s gone undefeated, but I don’t know if they compare to this one with Ilia. Maybe hindsight is 20/20, but I don’t know if it’s as good as this streak that Ilia is on. I want to see him move on. That’s my biggest criticism of him.” Jon Jones. He's just gone down in terms of competition level. I want to see Ilia fight the toughest guys and see if he's all that. If he can beat Arman in the next fight, it will be a very strong seal," he concluded.
Ilia Topuria is the new lightweight champion. Photo: Reproduction/UFC
Former featherweight champion (up to 65,7kg), Topuria won his second belt in nine UFC fights. Undefeated, the fighter plans to return to the octagon in December and has expressed interest in defending his lightweight throne against his rival. Paddy Pimblett.
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