Ilia Topuria recently opined that the domination of the Khabib Nurmagomedov-led Dagestani camp of fighters often comes from a common factor. Topuria also disclosed how he thinks those chances can be shut down.
Ilia Topuria expressed his wish to move up in weight and challenge lightweight champ, Islam Makhachev, for the first time during one of his live sessions preceding his UFC 308 encounter. This revelation also marked the beginning of his feud with the Dagestani camp of fighters led by Nurmagomedov.
Topuria’s remarks involving a street fight against Makhachev in his video had the Bellator lightweight champ, Usman Nurmagomedov, warning him about dire consequences. ‘El Matador’ fired back at those claims during an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, saying they couldn’t “do anything” to him. Since then, both parties have taken several jibes at their opposing one.
A recent X update from @ChampRDS showcased Ilia Topuria tracing the reason behind the in-cage dominance of the Team Khabib fighters. The Spaniard mentioned how they drew strength from their dominance over their rivals in the initial moments of the fight:
“If you see fighting any of them [see any of the Team Khabib fighter’s fights], the thing that they need when they get into that octagon [is that] in the first contact they want to feel that they dominate you. And they start to build confidence since that [from there].”
Ilia Topuria also expressed that the ‘Team Khabib’ fighters don’t do pretty well once their rivals can showcase some resilience during this time:
“But if they feel in the first contact that it’s very competitive, their head goes down… All the competitive fights, they lose.”
Check out Ilia Topuria‘s comments below:
Ilia Topuria on Dagestani fighters:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 13, 2025
“They try to beat you in the earlier rounds to feel that they can dominate you… but when they realize that it’s not like that, most of the time they lose…
All the competitive fights, they lose.”
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