Show Topuria! He snatches Volkanovsky, disguised as an old man, from his belt.
Latin American Georgian fighter. Ilya Topuria faced off against Australian Alexander Volkanovski this Thursday, two days before the fight. that both will fight for the UFC featherweight world title, and said that his opponent “already prepared for withdrawal”. This was a new incarnation of the “show” that both know how to put on before a fight.
“Look how he came dressed, he’s ready to retreat.”– assured “El Matador” who appeared in the press room under the guise of an old man nicknamed “The Great”, thereby continuing the mockery of Topuria, who these days based his performance on showing himself the heir to the title against the “finished” Volkanovski.
For his part, the Australian reacted sardonically, while the Spaniard insisted he didn’t want to “interrupt the elderly”. “I’m just having a little fun, it’s about being in control of the situation. You have to do it for people to appreciate it, so I wanted to do it personally.”– said Volkanovski, who even pretended to be asleep at the press conference.
Bye, Topuria continued his role as the villain in this performance and emphasized that he would finish the Australian “in the first round” on Saturday.. “After Saturday, I’m going to change the game in mixed martial arts,” he said.
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When the tension seemed unable to rise, Topuria played a major role in the final “coup” to end the press conference explosion. In a move almost identical to what one Connor McGregor did ahead of his title fight with Jose Aldo, the Spanish-Georgian fighter snatched the belt from the Australian, unleashing a frenzy in the stands.
Volkanovski (26-3) is making his sixth UFC featherweight title defense. To this day, he remains undefeated at 145 pounds and has notched high-profile wins over big names like Yair Rodriguez, Max Holloway and Brian Ortega. The Australian, nine years older than the Latino-Georgian, will face Topuria (14-0), who is looking to leave behind a performance that will catapult his career in a franchise that already has high hopes for him.
Powerful in his punches and possessing excellent boxing skills, Topuria already has memorable victories over Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell and Ryan Hall. Nicknamed “Matador”.If he manages to defeat Volkanovski, he will become the seventh fighter to be crowned UFC champion and enter the championship undefeated.
The Great One and El Matador hockey team will battle this Saturday, February 17, from 21:00 local time (0500 GMT on Sunday) at the Honda Center, an 18,000-plus seat pavilion where home games are played. teams. . The fight can be followed live on the SPORT channel.