Ilia Topuria poses with two UFC belts after victory against Charles of the Bronx. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.
First place in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, lightweight champion (up to 70,3 kg) and former featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg), Ilia Topuria He never seems to be satisfied and has even flirted with the possibility of moving up to welterweight in search of an unprecedented title shot. The move, however, was questioned by the coach of the champion in the higher weight class.
The coach of Jack Della Maddalena, Ben Vickers, got straight to the point when commenting, during his participation in the Submission Radio podcast, about Topuria's possible change of category, referring to the lightweight champion as a 'midget' and highlighting the similarities in the styles of the two fighters.
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"Ilai is my height, and I'm a dwarf. He needs to stay where he is. It would be a very bad decision for him to step up and face Jack. They're essentially the same fighters, but he's a dwarf and Jack is bigger. They do a lot of things similarly, and they do them very well. I love Ilia; he's one of my favorite fighters to watch because I think he's very similar to Jack, but I don't think it's a good idea for him to move up a weight class and face us," he advised.
Despite the warning, Ben Vickers again praised Ilia Topuria and highlighted that, with the size that the Spanish-Georgian is reaching within the organization, it will be up to him to define the next steps.
"Ultimately, it's up to him. If that's what he wants, I take my hat off and respect him greatly. I think Ilia is reaching a point where he can do whatever he wants because he's unstoppable," he concluded.
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