Former UFC champion explains big worry for Charles Oliveira in Ilia Topuria fight

Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling has given his thoughts on the upcoming fight between Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria.

In the main event of UFC 317, Charles Oliveira will take on Ilia Topuria in the main event. The two men will collide over the UFC lightweight championship, with the man known as ‘Do Bronx’ attempting to win the strap for the second time. Topuria, meanwhile, will try to join a rare group of fighters who have won belts in two different weight classes in the promotion.

RELATED: Charles Oliveira promises big performance against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317

A lot of fans, pundits and fighters have had their say on what will happen between Oliveira and Topuria. After all, it’s hard not to be curious given the level of talent that’s going to be on display.

In a recent podcast, Aljamain Sterling weighed in on how things are likely to play out between Oliveira and Topuria.

Sterling’s view on Topuria vs Oliveira

“This is interesting because Oliveira gets dropped every fight,” Sterling said on The Weekly Scraps podcast. “Just about every fight. The last eight fights, I would say. With that said, we know Ilia Topuria can crack. We’ve seen [Topuria] get dropped before by Jai Herbert, came back. That was the first time he fought at 155.

“He says he feels better at 155, his power is way different at 155. We know he can already crack at ‘45. What is that power going to translate into at 155 and if he can touch Charles the way he hits everybody else, I think it’s a bad night and Ilia’s a two-division champion.

“I’m leaning towards Ilia,” Sterling said. “I think that’s smart money. Of course, Oliveira can win, if he can grapple with him early, maybe he surprises us and shows us that Ilia can get tired and take off some of the sting of those punches, but then what does that look like for Oliveira in the later rounds?

“Can he keep his hands up and defend the right way, especially if he doesn’t get a finish? And how does he get the takedown? He’s got to close the distance to get the takedown, against a shorter dude, how are you doing that? You’ve got to get underneath him. It’s hard.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting