Ilia Topuria is ready to claim UFC gold in emphatic style as he makes his maiden title challenge on February 17th.
‘El Matador’ will get his shot at the Featherweight championship at UFC 298, when he takes on Alexander Volkanovski at the Honda Centre, California.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Topuria sees winning the belt as something that was always going to happen, a stage of his career that was destined to be. He said:
“It is inevitable. I'm going to win this fight. It's. It's my destiny, you know, it always was my destiny. I was born as a fighter. I was born as a UFC world champion. I know my level.
“I know myself and I have the capacity to analyze all my opponents. I know that I'm better than anyone in my division, even in the next weight class, I'm better than everyone. And it's just a matter of time that I'm going to prove all of them time and time again wrong.”
In all previous meetings they’ve had, both Volkanovski and Topuria have had plenty to say to each other but as ‘El Matador’ there is certainly a mutual respect there for each other. He said
“Of course he respects me, and I respect him too. And I show all the respect I have for him in all the training, the hard work I put in. I was the first man showing up in the gym and the last one to leave. So this is where I show the respect I have for my opponent.”
“I see he's training really hard. He's taking this fight with a lot of responsibility. But nothing is going to help him on February 17th.”
Although the respect is there, Topuria sees no reason as to why he can’t be only the third man to hand ‘The Great’ a loss; planning to do it in emphatic style.
“First round knockout. You will see he's saying a lot of bullsh*t. ‘There are levels’ and ‘I have this, I have that’. Yes, you are right. There are levels. There are levels, then there is me. I am going to show where the levels are. I’m going to dominate him everywhere. Everywhere. I'm going to make him look like a punching bag.”
Giving Volkanovski credit, the 27-year-old recognised just how much his opponent has achieved in the sport so far but feels now is the time for the next generation of athletes to take over. He said:
“He's one of the best. I do have to give him credit. He was a great champion. He was a pound for pound number one. He was one of the greatest. Without any doubt, one of the greats in the Featherweight division and he will always be remembered, like that's like one of the greatest in this division.
“And I'm happy to be the man who was going to give him some bad news on February 17th. You know, he's old. It's time to move on. It's time for the new generation. He's old. He already lost. You have all the signals that he has to retire. He had his moments in this sport, and now it's time to move on.”
Watch the full interview, here:
