One of Ilia Topuria’s former foes says a featherweight hit him even harder.
There’s a new pound-for-pound king in the UFC and his name is Ilia Topuria. The UFC Lightweight Champion improved to 17-0 at UFC 317 last weekend where he knocked out former champion Charles Oliveira in the opening round.
That’s three straight knockouts for Topuria, who became the first fighter to knock out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in the featherweight division.
Oliveira would’ve been Topuria’s 8th finish in a row, had it not been for the extremely durable chin of featherweight knockout artist Josh Emmett.
Emmett is the first and only fighter to enter a fourth round with Topuria, having reached the five-round distance with the UFC champion in 2023. Despite losing in one of the most lopsided fights in UFC history, Emmett was recently praised for his resilience and heart for lasting 25 minutes against Topuria.
Even though Topuria left his face disfigured, Emmett claims he doesn’t hit harder than a Hawaiian with ‘Dynamite’ in his hands.
Josh Emmett says Dan Ige hit him harder than Ilia Topuria
Once nicknamed ‘Dynamite’ for his KO power, #12-ranked UFC Featherweight Dan Ige is up there with Emmett as one of the division’s heaviest hitters.
It was Emmett who dropped Ige in their fight at UFC 269, and while he pulled off the decision victory, Emmett says he’s never been hit harder than by Ige.
“Of course, [Topuria] hits hard,” Emmett told MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura.
“But from a pure [power standpoint]—I feel like I’ve been hit harder by people that I fought.
“But the thing with Ilia is his footwork is good,” Emmett explained.
“He’s always in a really good position. He’s fast, and he’s very precise and accurate. And so he’s not loading up a 100%. He’s landing [with] the accuracy and precision, with the speed, and that’s where the power is.
“On the regional scene when I fought, Christos Giagos as a lightweight. He hit really hard. Dan Ige can crack too. Ige hits really hard too. Like, damn, that was a hard punch,” Emmett said of Ige’s power.
“I’ll say Dan Ige,” Emmett said of who hits harder than Topuria.
Ilia Topuria praised Josh Emmett for his toughness in 2023 fight
Prior to Josh Emmett, only one man had made it to the judges’ decision with Topuria, and that was three rounds against Youssef Zalal. Emmett was scheduled for five at UFC Jacksonville on June 24, 2023.
Topuria nearly finished Emmett with strikes in multiple rounds and in round 4, the American was saved by the bell.
Battered and bloodied in between rounds, Emmett chose to continue to round 5 where he pressed the gas pedal against Topuria, still trying to win the fight.
“I would expect him to knock him out in the first round, but the guy is really, really tough,” Topuria said immediately after his fight with Emmett.
“I wanna say thank you to Josh to bring so much energy inside the cage.”
Topuria picked up a rare 50-42 scorecard in his decision win, with one judge believing Topuria had dominated Emmett so badly in rounds 3 and 4, to warrant a 10-7 and 10-8 score.