Ilia Topuria Makes Scary Prediction for UFC 317 Clash Against Charles Oliveira

Ilia Topuria’s bravado has not diminished one bit after moving up to lightweight. 

Known for his bold confidence, Topuria has never failed to back it up with action so far in an undefeated mixed martial arts career. “El Matador” recently vacated the UFC featherweight title and moved up to lightweight, seeking another belt. While he wanted to fight Islam Makhachev, the lightweight champ has vacated his title to pursue welterweight gold. Topuria will now face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 on June 28 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

While some wonder if Topuria’s knockout power will translate to lightweight, Topuria claims to feel even stronger. Topuria feels so powerful that he is worried about Oliveira’s chin exploding if he connects.

“I represent the new generation of mixed martial arts,” Topuria said in a UFC 317 promotional video. “I’m the best fighter in the world… Now it’s time to become a lightweight world champion. I want to hold that belt too… I feel so powerful at 155, I’m gonna touch his chin and it will explode.”

Topuria has finished 14 of his 16 career wins, which includes eight UFC outings. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title and defended it by handing Max Holloway his first knockout loss. 

Meanwhile, Oliveira won the lightweight title against Michael Chandler and defended it once before losing the belt on the scale ahead of UFC 274. He came up short in his next title opportunity, falling to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. He has since sandwiched a loss against Arman Tsarukyan between wins over Beneil Dariush and Chandler.