Ilia Topuria’s brother, Aleksandre Topuria, had some elite corner advice for him in his UFC featherweight title win.
Ilia defeated Alexander Volkanovski via second-round knockout at UFC 298 this past February to be crowned the featherweight champ. The Georgian-Spaniard is set to defend his title for the first time against Max Holloway in the main event at UFC 308 on Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Leading up to the fight, Topuria revealed how his brother helped him in his win over “The Great.”
Once Ilia returned to his corner after the first round, Aleksandre pointed out that Volkanovski’s left arm doesn’t stay on guard. Aleksandre also advised Ilia to add pressure when Volkanovski moved toward him once the second round started.
“His left arm is set quite low. He puts his left arm here. Once you start, cut his distance a bit if it is possible,” Ilia said via translation in the UFC 308 Countdown video. “Continue with your right arm, return to your initial position. Don’t stay there… When he moves towards you, add more pressure, Ilia.”
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Listening to his brother, “El Matador” walked down Volkanovski to land a four-punch combo that earned an instant stoppage.
“After the first round, when I went to the corner, my brother told me, ‘Work on the counter on his jab.’… The second round, he started to slow down a little bit… He threw me a jab; I did a four-punch combination,” Ilia said. “Like, one, two, three, four — boom … Game over, my friend. It’s game over.”
While Ilia has both Georgian and Spanish citizenship, Aleksandre’s nationality is only Georgian currently. The 28-year-old has finished all five of his pro wins inside the first round, with his lone loss dating back to 2015. “El Conquistador” also signed with the UFC this past August, and he could potentially compete at both bantamweight and featherweight. Ilia has previously said that his brother could be even better than him and has championship potential.
