Lead UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik is eager to see how Ilia Topuria rebounds – especially at lightweight.
Topuria (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) suffered his first-career loss when he was dethroned by Justin Gaethje last month at UFC Freedom 250. Topuria sustained significant damage to his face, which led to doctors waving the fight off at the end of Round 4.
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Prior to that, Topuria was on a dominant run in which he recorded three consecutive knockouts over Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira to become two-division UFC champion at featherweight and lightweight. While “El Matador’s” accolades are very impressive, Anik needs to see more from him at 155 pounds.
“I think this will probably be more interesting to see how Ilia Topuria comes out of the other side of this,” Anik told Submission Radio. “Whatever his goals might have been internally in terms of legacy and when he was going to retire, that undeniably has shifted because now the focus is on regaining a title he was not able to successfully defend in a weight class in which he is going to be relinquishing size to a lot of these guys. Size does matter at some point in this equation, but he’s a mental giant in my opinion. He has just tremendous aura and mystique. I get starstruck around Ilia Topuria. This guy walks into a room, and you know it, even if he’s shorter than me.
“I think he will come back strong against any opponent. I guess what I lean into, in terms of the martial arts, is Gaethje talking about him as maybe the best one-round fighter of all time or first-round fighter of all time. So, I think there’s a lot that he can draw from it just in terms of how he attacks the early portions of the fight. You can’t just get jabbed up, but Kenny Florian and other people have called Topuria the greatest MMA fighter that they’ve seen. And at his best, maybe he is that. But at lightweight, he’s unproven, and he’ll be ready to prove himself at 155, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Topuria was humble in defeat by giving Gaethje credit and providing no excuses. He is confident that he will get his opportunity at a rematch.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Anik believes in ‘mental giant’ Ilia Topuria rebounding from first loss
