Hardly anybody sees Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira going the distance.
Both men in the UFC 317 main event have a near 90% finish rate. Charles Oliveira has the most submissions in UFC history while Spain’s Topuria is coming off back-to-back knockouts of featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and BMF titleholder Max Holloway.
Oliveira is a sizable underdog against Topuria, with former titleholders like Jorge Masvidal and Aljamain Sterling believing in Topuria’s KO power.
They aren’t the only fighters picking the undefeated Topuria to win a second title this weekend.
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Israel Adesanya backs Ilia Topuria to KO Charles Oliveira: ‘He gets touched too much’
Israel Adesanya is done doubting Ilia Topuria.
The former UFC Middleweight Champion knew the Spaniard was good, but not good enough to beat Volkanovski and Holloway—which he did in ruthless fashion.
“To beat two of the greatest featherweights of all time, back-to-back. It’s hard to doubt a guy like that again,” Adesanya said of Topuria.
As for Oliveira, Adesanya says ‘he gets caught too much for my liking’. The Brazilian has been dropped in four of his last seven fights and was hurt in his most recent fight against Michael Chandler.
“If he wants to go forward straight away, he’s gonna get caught,” Adesanya said of Oliveira.
“I just see Ilia as too sharp with the hands, man. He’s too sharp with the hands.
Charles needs good footwork because I don’t think he’s gonna be moving forward for long… Let’s see what the grappling is about. Test it, because no one’s tested Topuria’s grappling quite well yet.
“In this fight, I’m gonna go Ilia Topuria, I’m gonna go by knockout,” Adesanya predicted.
“I don’t know what round, but for me it’s just because Charles, he gets touched too much for my liking, so I just think Ilia will find the shot, I think pretty early if Charles decides to just be aggressive like he says and push forward, and then if he gets hurt, Ilia will find that shot again.”
Israel Adesanya hoping for UFC return against Sean Strickland
In the middleweight division, Adesanya is looking to rebound from three straight losses to the best fighters in the world.
Adesanya lost his UFC title for a second time in Sep. 2023 when he was defeated by Sean Strickland via unanimous decision. ‘The Last Stylebender’ then lost to champion Dricus du Plessis by submission and Nassourdine Imavov by knockout in February.
Adesanya is still very much interested in a rematch with Strickland, pushing for a return in September or October.
“He’s the only one I want, but he hasn’t responded,” Adesanya said of Strickland on the Ariel Helwani Show.