UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria has looked dominant inside the Octagon, but can one strategy halt “El Matador’s” momentum?
Many are wondering what’s next for Topuria after he knocked out Charles Oliveira in the first round of their title fight back in June to capture the 155-pound gold. Topuria has already secured championships in two different weight classes, and he’s done so with his boxing.
Appearing on “Know Time,” American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez revealed how he thinks a fighter could have success against Topuria (via MMAFighting).
“You’d need to work your kicks, angles with him,” Mendez said. “Knees. Muay Thai would be a good specialty. But your big task is to keep him away from you, and he’s got decent wrestling. So he’s also got, from people I’ve spoken to that train with him, he’s got decent jiu-jitsu also. So he’s almost the complete package, but he’s not. He lacks the kicking area.
“So the weakest link on him would be the kicking area. And then you have to test your grappling on him to see if yours is better than his. We’ve yet to see how great it is. It’s not great, but we’ve yet to see how good it really is.”
Topuria has been rumored to headline the UFC’s debut pay-per-view event on Paramount+, but nothing has been made official at this time. Many believe that Justin Gaethje will be getting the next crack at the UFC Lightweight Championship. Whether or not that is actually the UFC’s plan remains to be seen.
Gaethje has been known to pull off some hard leg kicks, but he often throws caution to the wind as well. Many believe Topuria would find a way to knock “The Highlight” out, but Gaethje is always a threat for any opponent with his power.