The most important fight for Spanish mixed martial arts (MMA) will take place this Saturday, December 10, at the T-Mobile in Las Vegas. The Hispano-Georgian Ilia Topuria, who has lived in Alicante for more than a decade, will seek to sneak into the top 10 of the UFC featherweight division, the largest league in this discipline.
Topuria, who is undefeated in his professional career with a 12-0 record (4-0 in the UFC), will face an expert in ‘grappling’ (gripping), with great fighting skills, but especially close to the canvas , with his Brazilian jiujitsu. Something that does not concern the fighter who represents Spain.
«The weight is going phenomenal and I have a very positive energy, everything is going towards us getting another victory. Have no doubt that it will not pass the first roundI’m going to finish Bryce Mitchell before I get to the second one,” he told ABC exclusively during the week of the fight.
The Climent Club fighter is in for the chance of a lifetime, having bested Jai Herbert this year in March at the first event in London. Before, he had beaten Ryan Hall, Damon Jackson and Youssef Zalal in this promotion. But Mitchell is a level leap, which is why all eyes are on this fight, which will be part of the UFC 282 main card.
At 25, Topuria has a long career ahead of him and his first big goal is to win the featherweight belt, which is currently held by Alexander Volkanovski. This fight will be vital to get closer to the title. “I want to finish the business I have in this division and then look for the double belt at lightweight,” he says.
It is precisely in that division that Topuria’s arch-enemy, the Englishman Paddy Pimblett, will also fight this weekend, with whom he already had an altercation in the British capital. It’s a fight that, over time, will only get bigger. «One day we went to train at the UFC Performance Institute and they took him out the back door, he doesn’t want to cross me. If you go on one sidewalk and the other crosses, why is it?” Topuria wonders, confident that one day he will face the rising British star.
