American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez is giving due credit to Ilia Topuria.
Topuria put his featherweight title on the line against Max Holloway in the main event at UFC 308 this past Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. “El Matador” became the first to knock out Holloway, who had previously proclaimed himself the “best boxer in the UFC.”
After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the title at UFC 298 this past February and defending his strap against Holloway, Topuria has now put himself in “Fighter of the Year” conversations. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard has been rallying a future double-champ bid against Islam Makhachev since his title win over “The Great.”
After the way Topuria finished Holloway, a clash against Makhachev in the near future doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Speaking of a potential clash between the two, Mendez, who is one of Makhachev’s primary coaches, labeled Topuria the best boxer in all of MMA. Mendez admits that it wouldn’t be wise of Makhachev to engage with Topuria on the feet but says the same is true for “El Matador” in wrestling.
“[Ilia’s] got the best boxing, I believe, in the whole division, all the divisions, not just one,” Mendez recently told Submission Radio. “So that’d would be an area I would be foolish to want to try to go up against boxing for boxing. That’s not a smart move. It would be like if Ilia decided go submission for submission with Islam. That’s not a smart move on his part, either. So it’s all strategy and how you approach it.”
While Topuria has recently gained fame as a knockout artist, the champ had only one KO win and seven submission wins to his name before joining the UFC. Topuria also put on some grappling display at UFC 308, securing both of his takedown attempts in his victory over Holloway last Saturday. While Mendez was impressed with Topuria’s wrestling, he doesn’t believe “El Matador” can hold his own on the ground against the lightweight champ.
“I was impressed with [Topuria’s wrestling]. But whether he can hang with Islam or not on the ground, I would have to say no,” Mendez said. “Based on what I see with everybody… And the only person that really did the most with him was Khabib. And at the end of the day the longer you grapple with Islam, the worse it’s gonna get.”
