Ilia Topuria is making a bold prediction ahead of his lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje in the UFC Freedom 250 main event in Washington.
Topuria, the undefeated lightweight champion at 17-0 (9-0 UFC) and a former featherweight titleholder, is set to face interim lightweight champion Gaethje, who enters with a 27-5 record (10-5 UFC) and 15 post-fight bonuses in 15 UFC appearances. The bout is scheduled to headline UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
“I think everyone knows that it's a very tough matchup for Justin – that it's basically impossible to get the victory,” Topuria said while breaking down the matchup. “But that's the beautiful thing about our business, about the fight business: that anything can happen in a fight.”
Topuria believes Gaethje’s trademark pressure style will be his downfall. “If he's going to do what he's been saying, that he's going to try to move forward and all that, that's all I need,” he said. “That's all I need. Just try to move forward and I'm going to have half the job already done. … If he's going to try to move forward, I'm going to knock him out like in the first minute or the second minute.”
Referencing his title-winning performance over Charles Oliveira, Topuria added that he views Oliveira as “very dangerous on the ground” in a way Gaethje is not, and concluded, “That's why I see this fight short. I don't think – I know for a fact that if he's going to try to move forward, I'm going to knock him out in two minutes. I'm too good for him.”
