American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez says the book on beating Ilia Topuria starts with one commandment: don\u2019t box him.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay out of boxing range, one million percent,\u201d Mendez said on the Know Time YouTube channel. \u201cHe\u2019s got the best boxing in the business, in MMA\u2026 His boxing is real good. Real good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Mendez Is So High on Topuria<\/p>\n
Topuria\u2019s rise has been fueled by ruthless shot selection and airtight defense. Over the last two years, the Georgian-Spanish star knocked out Max Holloway in his first (and only) featherweight title defense, then stopped Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant lightweight crown becoming the first undefeated fighter to win UFC titles in multiple divisions. That r\u00e9sum\u00e9, Mendez argues, validates Topuria\u2019s swagger.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe even thinks he can beat Terence Crawford. That\u2019s how confident he is in his boxing,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cAnd I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Game Plan to Beat Him<\/p>\n
Mendez believes the path runs through everything but pocket exchanges.<\/p>\n
Kick-first approach: \u201cYou\u2019d need to work your kicks, angles\u2026 Knees. Muay Thai would be a good specialty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manage distance: \u201cYour big task is to keep him away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Test the grappling: While Topuria is \u201cdecent\u201d in wrestling and jiu-jitsu, Mendez says opponents should stress his ground game and see if their grappling can win minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s almost the complete package, but he\u2019s not. He lacks the kicking area,\u201d Mendez noted. \u201cWe\u2019ve yet to see how great his grappling is\u2026 It\u2019s not great, but we\u2019ve yet to see how good it really is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Superfight Everyone Wants<\/p>\n
Before moving up to lightweight, Topuria angled for a clash with Islam Makhachev, Mendez\u2019s longtime pupil. The timing didn\u2019t align Makhachev also moved up in search of a second belt but the Topuria vs. Makhachev superfight remains near the top of fans\u2019 wish lists. If it ever happens, expect AKA to lean on the same blueprint: kicks, angles, clinch knees, and grappling pressure anything to keep Topuria out of his preferred boxing range.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Next<\/p>\n
Topuria hasn\u2019t fought since winning the lightweight title at UFC 317 in July, with rumors pointing to a first defense early next year. Meanwhile, Makhachev chases history of his own, challenging for the welterweight title at UFC 322 next month.<\/p>\n
In Mendez\u2019s eyes, Topuria\u2019s hands are unrivaled in MMA. If you trade jabs with him, you\u2019re already losing so kick him, clinch him, and drag him into a fight where his boxing can\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez says the book on beating Ilia Topuria starts with one commandment:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-230877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}