Charles Oliveira cautions Ilia Topuria against moving up to lightweight: “This is a very tough division”
Charles Oliveira has cautioned Ilia Topuria against moving up to lightweight as he continues to shine at featherweight.
There’s a lot to be said for the rise of Ilia Topuria. Over the course of the last few years, he has emerged as one of the best fighters in mixed martial arts. In his last two fights, he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski and proceeded to knock out Max Holloway – which is an absolutely crazy two-bout streak to have on your resume.
Of course, the expectation is that he’ll continue to defend the featherweight title until he either loses it or retires. At the same time, though, Topuria has made it known that he’d be interested in moving up to lightweight in the future.
In the eyes of Charles Oliveira, though, he needs to think through that decision very carefully.
Oliveira questions Topuria at lightweight
“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.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
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Charles Oliveira Ilia Topuria UFC
