Ilia Topuria might have some of the best boxing in the UFC.
Despite having a background in submission wrestling, Topuria has found a home for his devastating striking, now owning knockouts over two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in promotional history: Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.
Topuria’s left hook demolition job over Holloway was the most impressive, considering ‘Blessed’ had barely been rocked – or dropped – in 29 UFC appearances.
Ilia Topuria shows off boxing skills by decimating training partner
This brutality extends to the training room, where Topuria savages his training partners in a similar fashion. Most notably, Topuria is adept with the left body hook, something he used to set up his spectacular finish over Damon Jackson in 2020.
He showcased this in recent training footage shared on social media, courtesy of Home of Fight on X. ‘El Matador’ drops his training partner several times with thudding liver shots.
How Ilia Topuria sets up his gut-wrenching body shots
It’s essential to note that Topuria’s straight shots and hooks to the head are extremely heavy-handed. His physicality at featherweight is enough to give him openings that other fighters wouldn’t consider.
Paired with the fact he rarely throws kicks, Topuria is almost always in a position to strike, whether with smooth-flowing footwork or ring generalship. In the video, one of Topuria’s techniques is to shovel hook his opponent’s rear arm out of position and come underneath with the left body shot.
Boxing 101 is to hit one target to make another target vulnerable. Topuria’s head and body shots are symbiotic in that one sets up the other. In the sparring footage, Topuria’s nasty head shots draw his partner’s guard away from his midsection.
At his most vulnerable against the wall, Topuria’s partner expects more shots to the head, only to receive a crushing body blow. He did this exceptionally well against Jai Herbert and Holloway.
Topuria targets retreating opponents to the body. He also lights up the body when opponents enter range without commitment. One of his most effective strategies is to rip to the body when an opponent is backed against the cage since the head can be evasive, and it’s easier to strike mass.
In a more niche case, Topuria likes to wing shots to the body of opponents who assume safety in the Thai clinch. Because of his stature, he can generate considerable power in short shots while his opponent has a plum grip around his neck.