Ilia Topuria tells Charles Oliveira to keep dreaming a week out from their title fight at UFC 317.
Islam Makhachev’s relinquished lightweight title is on the line at this year’s International Fight Week. In the main event of UFC 317, the undefeated Ilia Topuria looks to conquer his second division when he takes on beloved former champion Charles Oliveira.
A slayer of all-time greats Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, Topuria is as confident as ever heading into the vacant title fight up a weight class, saying he’ll ‘explode’ Oliveira’s chin with his massive knockout power.
Regardless of what his worried fans think, the UFC veteran Oliveira doesn’t seem to be threatened by Topuria’s power, claiming he hits harder than Topuria ‘for sure’ in a recent interview with Full Violence.
Topuria has caught wind of Oliveira’s comments.
Ilia Topuria says Charles Oliveira hitting harder than him is ‘very wishful thinking’
The well-rounded Topuria remains adamant he can finish Oliveira any way he wants at UFC 317. The 28-year-old has a background in Greco-Roman wrestling and has honed his boxing skills over the years after starting his career with seven-straight submissions.
Oliveira is the UFC’s most prolific submission artist and to this day, he is the hardest hitter Justin Gaethje has ever come across in his legendary 31-fight career.
So, what does Topuria think of Oliveira saying he holds the power advantage over him?
“That’s very, very wishful thinking,” Topuria said in an interview with Kevin Iole.
“He thinks that he has a more powerful punch than me, that’s very wishful thinking.”
“I challenge him,” Topuria continued.
“I challenge him. We can separate [between] like a boxing match, a grappling match, a wrestling match…
“Everywhere, I beat him. Everywhere. However I want.
“This is how confident I feel,” said Topuria.
Ilia Topuria responds to criticism he’s not big enough for lightweight division
A longtime featherweight, Topuria has fought once in the UFC Lightweight division, where he nearly lost via head kick to the 6’1″ Jai Herbert in 2022.
Oliveira is three inches taller than the 5’7″ Topuria, with top lightweight contender Mateusz Gamrot predicting Oliveira to win because of his size advantage.
“What they mean when they say that I’m not that big?” Topuria said.
“Maybe I’m not the tallest guy, but, my weight is not gonna be lower than Charles’ weight.
“Even after the rehydration and all that, I’m gonna be maybe even heavier than him.
“Actually, that’s one of the reasons why I moved up to the lightweight division because I had to kill myself to make 145 [lbs].”