Ilia Topuria is putting on his mystic cap and sharing a prediction for his UFC White House fight against Justin Gaethje: a 1st round KO.
Topuria is extremely confident coming into his Sunday, June 14th fight against “The Highlight.” And why wouldn’t he be, given his impressive knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira? That’s a legendary streak if there ever was one, and Justin Gaethje’s style seems to play right into Topuria’s strengths.
“He’s a great guy, a great fighter who’s done a lot of things in this sport,” Topuria said. “I, as a fan, am quite a follower of his style. He is a real fighter. But on a technical and skills level, I see he is below me. Many will say that I am arrogant, but none have shown me that I am wrong. I have no doubt that he won’t be able to do anything to me. I have the complete faith that I will put him to sleep in the first round. I don’t see any chance for him. I want to consider that I could take more than one round, but I don’t see any possibility.”
Asked if he was worried about Gaethje’s ability to generate chaos in the cage, Topuria shrugged.
“I’m not chaotic, I bring calm in all that chaos,” he replied. “I know my skills on a mental level, on a technical level, on a physical level. What can he surprise me with?”
Topuria has said that he starts every training camp with a breakdown of what his opponent will try to do, so he can counter it all en route to another blistering victory. Now he shared what he’d gleaned from Gaethje’s other performances.
“What he is going to try to do is very clear,” Topuria said. “He’s going to try to go out with calf kicks, he will try to hurt me in the lead leg, maybe try to head kick me because I have a history where I ate some kick like this. But the fight? If you go to the fight, once we get out of the clinch, he will have a very high energy expenditure. I do not know if he is going to opt for that option, then he has to stand in the fight. Physically, I am a thousand times better prepared than Justin.”
He’ll get his chance to prove that claim and make his 1st round KO prediction a reality on the White House lawn this Sunday June 14th.
