Ilia Topuria’s title challenge against Charles Oliveira could not have gone any better.
Once the UFC Featherweight Champion, the undefeated Topuria is now a two-division champion after capturing the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317.
Topuria predicted he would knock out Charles Oliveira in the opening round and that’s what he did, finishing the former champion with punches in a matter of minutes.
Topuria was a sizable betting favorite to beat Oliveira, with fighters like Aljamain Sterling, Beneil Dariush, and Jorge Masvidal picking ‘El Matador’ to get the job done.
Styles make fights, and a former UFC champion thinks Topuria got a tailor-made matchup upon his return to the lightweight division.
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TJ Dillashaw says Charles Oliveira is ‘perfect matchup’ for Ilia Topuria: ‘He gets clipped in every fight’
Former champions Sterling and Adesanya had mentioned Oliveira gets hit too much for their liking.
Prior to his KO loss at UFC 317, Oliveira was hurt or ‘rocked’ four times in his last seven fights.
Oliveira, the UFC’s most prolific submission artist, believed he possessed more KO power than Topuria but quickly found out that was not the case while in the pocket.
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw was baffled by Oliveira’s willingness to stand and trade with a boxer as skilled as Topuria.
“This was a hand-selected fight for Ilia,” Dillashaw said on the Jaxxon Podcast.
“This is a perfect matchup for him.
“Charles gets clipped. He gets clipped in every fight. He’s willing to close distance even though he’s a taller guy. Like, why is he not staying longer? I know he catches him here and there, but, Topuria wants you to engage with him,” Dillashaw continued.
“He wants you to come in that danger zone because his boxing is that much better. Even if he gets hit, he’s gonna hit you a lot harder. He’s gonna put your lights out, and we saw that, obviously.
“I wish Oliveira would’ve kept his distance better. Put him against the cage. Use your weight. Get bigger than he is. He’s obviously a bigger guy, but he’s doing too much of the middle ground. Should be all the way out or all the way in. Nothing in between,” Dillashaw said.
Arman Tsarukyan could have fought for title before Charles Oliveira
There’s no doubt Topuria vs. Oliveira is one of the biggest UFC fights of the year. However, the matchup didn’t come without controversy.
The #2-ranked Oliveira was given the title shot over Arman Tsarukyan, the #1 contender who beat him last year.
Tsarukyan survived four submission attempts and narrowly defeated Oliveira by split decision at UFC 300.
Tsarukyan is 9-1 since losing his UFC debut to Islam Makhachev. Tsarukyan was offered to rematch Makhachev at UFC 302, right after his victory over Oliveira, but Tsarukyan declined.
The #1 contender was set to rematch Makhachev in the main event of UFC 311 earlier this year, however, a back injury forced Tsarukyan to withdraw, losing his title opportunity as a result.
Like Justin Gaethje, who has won 3 out of his last 4 fights, Tsarukyan was also passed up for the next title fight by Oliveira.
Tsarukyan made championship weight at 155 lbs as the official back-up fighter for the UFC 317 co-main event. Time will tell if the lightweight gets a title shot without having to fight again.