Written by NEW YORK – Charles Oliveira praised Ilia Topuria, but says a lightweight move won’t be easy.
UFC featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who’s coming off back-to-back knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, is confident he can become the first to submit UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev.
A former lightweight champion, Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) acknowledges Topuria’s skillset, but reminds him of the shark tank in his division.
“Ilia is a tough fighter – someone who talks the talk and walks the walk,” Oliveira said through an interpreter during Wednesday’s UFC 309 media day. “He’s doing things. I can see why he would want to challenge people. He would be, obviously, a tough fight.
“I think that what happens is a lot of fighters, whenever they get the belt, they have that belt wrapped around their waist, they start thinking up and down in the divisions. But I think you have to be very careful when you’re coming up to lightweight because this is tough. This is a very tough division. But at any rate, I think that he’s a very tough and very dangerous guy.”
Oliveira runs things back with Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) co-main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. Oliveira won their first meeting by knockout to claim the vacant lightweight title at UFC 262 in May 2021.
Related
Coach Jorge Climent wants Ilia Topuria to challenge Islam Makhachev for UFC lightweight title
Alexander Volkanovski: Ilia Topuria wouldn’t submit Islam Makhachev, but he can knock him out
Javier Mendez doesn’t think Ilia Topuria can hang with Islam Makhachev on the ground
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.