A fan learnt a painful lesson after challenging UFC featherweight Ilia Topuria to punch him as hard as he could. It’s never a good idea for fans to ask professional fighters to land any kind of shot on them, for the risk of serious injury.
In the video, ‘El Matador’, seen wearing a suit, puts a boxing glove on his left hand when told about the fan’s request. What followed was a quick liver-shot that caused the fan to sharply recoil first, and then writhe in pain.
Check out this video of Ilia Topuria landing the body shot:
Ilia Topuria is known for his deadly punching power with four knockout wins in 13 fights. Of those four knockouts, three have happened inside the UFC octagon. The undefeated Georgian-born Spanish fighter has KO wins over the likes of Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall and Jai Herbert in the premier MMA promotion.
Despite having crisp striking and incredible knockout power, Topuria is a grappling phenom with a black belt in jiu-jitsu under Jorge and Agustin Climent. He has eight submission victories in his career. Except for Youssef Zalal at UFC Fight Night 179, ‘El Matador’ has never fought to a decision in his professional career.
Ilia Topuria has a UFC record of 5-0 and an overall MMA record of 13-0.
“I want to fight Brian Ortega next” – Ilia Topuria after his UFC 282 win
Following his spectacular submission victory over Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282, Ilia Topuria told Laura Sanko that he wants Brian Ortega next. ‘El Matador’ faced adversity in the first round despite landing good shots on ‘Thug Nasty’.
Topuria came out strong in the second round, overwhelming Mitchell in the striking exchanges and eventually finding an arm-triangle finish when the fight hit the ground. In beating ‘Thug Nasty’, ‘El Matador’ became the first man to finish Bryce Mitchell, handing him his first career loss in the process.
In his backstage interview with Laura Sanko, Topuria expressed wanting to fight submission specialist Brian Ortega in his next outing. Here’s what ‘El Matador’ said:
“So, I want to fight with ‘T-City’, with Brian Ortega next. If the UFC [can] bring the event to Spain, that would be amazing. Maybe [I want to get the] title-shot, but I know that the short man [Alexander Volkanovski] is busy right now. [He’s] getting even [fatter] than he is. He’s going up to lightweight, right, for the second title? If it’s not him, I want to fight with Brian Ortega.”