Topuria makes Oliveira vow from within ‘the oven’

With less than a week to go before Ilia Topuria steps back into the Octagon, the Spanish-Georgian fighter held an open training session for the media in Las Vegas, showcasing his full arsenal of skills. Under the watchful eye of his boxing coach, Javi Climent, “El Matador” delivered a warning shot to Charles Oliveira ahead of their UFC 317 bout, set for the early hours of Sunday, June 29 (4:00 a.m. ET on MAX).

Speaking about the highly anticipated lightweight title fight, Topuria made a bold promise – a first-round knockout. “He walks forward, so I won’t even need to close the distance. If I hurt him, he won’t get a chance to recover – my power is completely different from everyone else’s,” said the 27-year-old, confident that Oliveira won’t stand a chance once they’re locked in the cage.

Topuria was also pressed on his plans for the division after the fight. He made clear that the next contender will need to earn their shot. “Paddy [Pimblett] needs to win one more fight, because there are other contenders in the division who deserve a title shot. Tsarukyan needs another win too – he had his chance, but pulled out for some reason I don’t know,” he said.

Finally, the undefeated champion couldn’t resist calling out Islam Makhachev, who vacated the lightweight belt and avoided a direct clash with Topuria. Still determined to face the Russian, Topuria signaled his willingness to move up to welterweight – where Makhachev is now ranked No.1 pound-for-pound. “I’ll fight him if he beats Jack Della Maddalena. In Dagestan no one cares – he can’t even string two words together,” said Topuria.

Training in the heat of the “oven”

As part of his intense weight cut, Topuria is pushing his body to the limit, training in 104°F heat to hit the agreed weight of 155 pounds as quickly as possible. Drenched in sweat and surrounded by his team, he shared footage on social media of his grueling effort to drop the last few kilos in what he calls “the oven.”

According to reporters in Las Vegas, Topuria currently weighs around 174 pounds (roughly 78kg), meaning he still needs to shed 19 pounds (8kg) – undoubtedly the most grueling stage of his training camp.

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