Ilia Topuria is no stranger to the spotlight but there is a lot on the line for him at UFC 317.
After vacating his featherweight belt earlier this year, Topuria will face Charles Oliveira on June 28 for the vacant lightweight title.
Topuria was targeting Islam Makhachev, which would’ve been a huge fight, but ‘Do Bronx’ still presents a big challenge to the undefeated star who has committed to 155-pounds.
His change in weight class isn’t the only major difference for ‘El Matador’ this time around following a major update regarding his preparations.
Topuria will no longer be working with the same coaches who have been by his side at every step with some questioning whether this will impact his performance in Las Vegas.
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Jorge Climent doesn’t believe that Ilia Topuria’s amicable move away will impact his UFC 317 performance
Both Ilia Topuria and his brother Aleksandre have trained under the Climent brothers at Climent Club in Alicante, Spain since the start of their careers.
The former featherweight champion’s success has brought a lot of praise and attention to this team but his ability to train there has been made more difficult following his move to Madrid.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Jorge Climent stated that there’s no hard feelings after they came to the decision last week as “gentlemen”.
“No, we don’t work together anymore. I feel always this is not good for sentimental thing, you know, but [this] is the life. We go with him [on] this journey and now he grow and he want to fly away, you know.
“We’re very proud to go all the way with him. We are very proud for everything he’s done and of course, we are a little sad but I want everything in his life [to] continue going well.”
Climent said that with Topuria now having his own gym at his house, he no longer needs to make the trip over to Alicante to train for his fights.
He doesn’t believe that this sudden change to stop training with his original coaches will affect ‘El Matador’ on June 28.
Whether he’s in the corner or not, Climent is still confident that his former student will get his hand raised in the main event of UFC 317.
“I don’t think so. His performance is going to be great. He’s going to win. I know him, I know this sport and I think he’s very focused and he’s going to do really well.”
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Jorge Climent is sad that we didn’t get Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria instead
Jorge Climent was disappointed when Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title didn’t come together.
“Yes, of course. I think that fight is a really good fight and I think it’s going to happen in the future.”
However, with Makhachev moving up to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight belt, that doesn’t mean that his path can’t cross with Topuria’s in the future.
Climent believes that rather than Makhachev coming back down to 155 pounds, it’s more likely that Topuria moves up another weight class in the future.
“I think it would be there. I think having three belts is something that’s never happened in history. That would be crazy.”