Ilia Topuria’s coaches are targeting a fight with Brian Ortega
Agustín and Jorge Climent talked to AS about Ilia Topuria’s future. They believe it’s likelier to see ‘El Matador’ fight Brian Ortega than Max Holloway, the BMF champion.
After Max Holloway’s performance at UFC 300, it seemed that Ilia Topuria had found the opponent to make his first featherweight title defense. Agustin and Jorge Climent, his coaches, don’t think the fight will happen and they are targeting Brian Ortega, the No. 3 contender in the rankings. Holloway holds the BMF belt, “which is like a wild card among the other belts. Ilia is the chosen one, he is the golden egg, and we are the goose,” Agustin said.
El Matador became the UFC featherweight champion by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round in February, one of the company’s best fighters and former pound-for-pound No. 1 mixed martial artist. Since then, there have been discussions about who will be the first fighter Topuria will defend his belt against.
“As a fighter, he’s the best out there. I think he will mark a milestone. He won a belt after 15 fights and he has no losses. He will have four or five more fights, I don’t know, and he will retire undefeated, with the belts he wants. It isn’t easy to have a better career than his... He hasn’t been seriously damaged, he doesn’t have any injuries. He is a blessed person,” Agustin explained.
Max Holloway held the featherweight belt between 2017 and 2019 and after UFC 300 he ran as Topuria’s next rival. The Hawaiian knocked out Justin Gaethje in the last second of the fifth round to take the BMF title, the company’s ‘baddest’ fighter. He asked for a fight with Ilia, who was following the event in the front row. He accepted the challenge, as long as the title is at stake.
However, Topuria’s coaches are not entirely sure the fight will happen. “Think strategically. If you are Max Holloway, you have the belt, and you have the chance to fight Ilia or McGregor, who would you fight?” Agustin asked. Conor McGregor will return to the UFC on June 29 against Michael Chandler, and many fighters, including Topuria, want to face the great MMA star. “I think I would fight McGregor. So, I wouldn’t put my belt on the line -a belt which is like a wild card among the rest of the belts- to take a chance on the new guy who is killing everyone. “I would take on a famous old dog to earn money,” the Argentinian coach added.
At this point, the name of Brian Ortega comes into play. “Ilia is ready to fight anyone. He is at his best and no one overshadows him,” Jorge said. The American of Mexican descent submitted Yair Rodríguez in February at UFC Mexico after being inactive for almost two years. He volunteered to be the title contender, and Ilia’s corner sees it as a logical move. “I think so, but I don’t know,” Agustín said.
Aleksandre Topuria’s imminent UFC debut
The UFC will soon have another Topuria in the octagon. Aleksandre, as Ilia revealed in an interview a few months ago, will make his debut in the company, although there isn’t a date and opponent yet. “We are waiting for them to say who will be the rival and when the fight will happen. He is training all the time, he’s always ready in case he gets a call to fight, and eager to fight when his brother does too, to try to make a faster climb,” Jorge explained.
El Conquistador is Ilia’s right-hand man in his preparations and his life. They started practicing Greco-Roman wrestling together in childhood and have been together throughout Ilia’s journey to the top. The eldest of the Topuria brothers fights at bantamweight and they are confident that, like Ilia did, Aleksandre will win a belt.