Whilst UFC 308 is stacked from top to bottom with world-class talent, all eyes are fixed on the main event of the evening; a featherweight title fight between 15-0 finisher Ilia Topuria, and one of the best boxers in the UFC, Max Holloway.
UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria enters Fight Week with an undefeated record of 15-0 and five big wins coming by way of knockout; eight, if you include the three KOs he once scored over Gilbert Burns’ teammates in training.
Gilbert Burns tells crazy story about when Ilia Topuria KO’d sparring partners
Back in late February, the global MMA community was left reeling from the unbelievable one-punch knockout that Ilia Topuria scored over Alexander Volkanovski to capture UFC gold.
One week after the new featherweight champion was crowned, veteran contender and welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns would sit down with Luke Thomas to discuss El Matador’s insane power.
When asked whether he was surprised by the knockout win, Burns simply acknowledged “not really,” as he revealed that just a few months earlier, he’d witnessed Topuria knocking out three of his teammates in training.
“This guy came [out] here to the gym and did half of his camp [for his fight] against Josh Emmett here and he knocked out three of my teammates – out, not down, out!
“With the big gloves [too], with the big gloves [and] I’m going to say that one more time, with the big gloves. [Knocked] Out!”
Whilst Burns wouldn’t name names as to who was involved, he did also admit that he was highly impressed with the grappling skills of the Spanish-Georgian sensation – especially after he out-wrestled an esteemed Dagestani who was also training out at Kill Cliff.
“I saw him training, I saw him grappling and bro, he’s not a big or tall dude but he’s solid… We were wrestling and sometimes we do that at the end of practice – ‘Okay, we’re done, class is over, okay now the last thing is we have to take down our sparring partner.’
“Topuria was in the middle with this high-level wrestler from freaking Dagestan… That guy is so strong, good defense and he took the guy down, a Dagestani wrestler – that’s when I was like ‘Man, this guy can do it all.’
Tom Aspinall ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if Topuria knocks down Holloway at UFC 308
According to the UFC stats, Max Holloway has never been knocked down throughout the course of his 29-fight career in the promotion – interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall believes that could be about to change at UFC 308 this coming weekend.
“I think I’m going to go out there and say, Ilia Topuria can put him down,” Aspinall predicted on the latest episode of his Fight Lab series with TNT Sports.
“He’s got the power to, and he mixes it up so well between the disciplines; I would not be surprised if Max Holloway got dropped in this fight.
“I think he’s going to keep him guessing with the takedowns, the threat is there and that can affect your defensive boxing because [when] you’re thinking about the takedowns, your hands are low being ready for the shot when punches are coming over the top.”
Interestingly, Holloway himself actually disputes the claim that he’s never been knocked down in the UFC, telling Joe Rogan earlier this year how Justin Gaethje did drop him, but the knockdown wasn’t counted by the bookkeepers.
Can Topuria be the first fighter to ‘officially’ knock down Holloway? Find out on October 26.