UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria has laid out his personal list of all-time UFC greats and even built his version of the perfect fighter in a recent interview.
Topuria named Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Conor McGregor, and Anderson Silva as his four all-time best UFC fighters. When constructing his ideal fighter, he leaned heavily on that group and several other standouts from across the roster.
On the striking component, Topuria zeroed in on Jones. “And I’m going to tell you why I would say Jon Jones,” Topuria said. “Maybe he doesn’t have that frequency of punches and all that, but every time he throws something he protects himself, he knows when to throw a punch. Like, he has a great IQ. That’s why I would say that I would choose his striking.”
For grappling, Topuria considered Charles Oliveira and Demian Maia, while he turned to Merab Dvalishvili for elite cardio. Describing Dvalishvili’s engine, Topuria recalled, “I remember the last time when he came to my house, we did, I don’t know, 10 or 12 rounds,” before adding, “And I was like, listen, guy, leave me alone, I don’t want to do anything else. And he was trying to do more rounds and he ended up doing, I don’t know, 35 or 30 rounds. He doesn’t get tired. I don’t know if it’s running or what it is, but he’s built different.”
Topuria also praised the boxing of Darren Till, Conor McGregor, Petr Yan, and especially his brother Aleksandre Topuria, calling Aleksandre “one of the best boxers in the UFC right now.”
