One former fighter sees shades of the great Canelo Alvarez in the striking arsenal of UFC 317 headliner Ilia Topuria.
The Spanish star has bid farewell to the featherweight division this year following a brief reign as champion.
After Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the title in February 2024, the 28-year-old returned eight months later and became the first fighter to put Max Holloway to sleep.
That turned out to be the final chapter of his short championship rule at 145 pounds, with ‘El Matador’ vacating the throne and turning his attention to the lightweight gold.
Topuria’s callouts of Islam Makhachev failed to keep the Dagestani from a weight switch of his own, meaning the undefeated Spaniard will instead battle Charles Oliveira for the vacant title at UFC 317.
Kenny Florian backs Canelo Alvarez-esque Ilia Topuria to win the UFC lightweight title
During an appearance on RJ Clifford’s MMA Today show, former three-time UFC title challenger Kenny Florian provided his prediction for the next championship fight in his longtime division.
‘KenFlo’ sided with the favourite, backing Topuria to achieve his two-division aspirations in the headlining bout of International Fight Week.
Explaining that pick, Florian pointed to a rare skill that Topuria shares with Canelo — one that has historically proven to be Oliveira’s downfall.
“I’m leaning the way of Ilia Topuria,” Florian said. “I’m doing that because as of right now, I don’t see a whole lot of guys in mixed martial arts that have mastered that inside range the way Ilia Topuria has.
“I often compare his skills in some way to Canelo. When Canelo’s on point and in the pocket, there’s very few boxers that are going to be as devastating as him inside that pocket. Ilia Topuria has mastered that range, and I don’t think there’s a whole lot of MMA guys that have.
“Oliveira tends to struggle in that range. The times that he gets hurt, it’s in that range. Ilia Topuria, he’s unforgiving in that range.”
Ilia Topuria wants to box Canelo Alvarez
Talk of Topuria’s connection to Canelo in recent times hasn’t just surrounded the comparisons between their respective skillsets.
Kamaru Usman’s boxing challenge to Canelo once stirred debate, and ‘El Matador’ also got in on the action in the days that followed his title win at UFC 298 in 2024.
During an interview on El Partidazo de Cope, Topuria insisted that at least one boxing match lies in his future. And if he could choose an opponent, it would be none other than the first and only boxer in history to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
“I’m not going to leave sport without boxing. I won’t do many fights, but one or two for sure,” Topuria said.
“The one I would like the most is Canelo Alvarez.”
For now, Topuria’s focus remains on the cage and on his pursuit of a legacy that leaves him in the discussion of the greatest of all time.
The next hurdle on that journey comes inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on June 28, where Oliveira awaits him.