Watching Ilia Topuria get broken apart changed how Anthony Joshua looks at his own career.
Justin Gaethje’s demolition of Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn ranks among the biggest upsets in UFC history. Topuria lost his undefeated record and a whole lot of aura. Joshua was watching, and he told Combat Evolved it snapped something into focus.
It’s not all fun and games. It’s a serious, serious, serious job. When I watched that Ilia Topuria fight and [Justin Gaethje], when I watched that fight, I stopped replying to people after that, because I said, ‘It’s not a joke.'
Joshua saw a man who looked destined to win, right up until he didn’t.
I saw someone in Ilia who was destined to win. The stars were aligned for him to be victorious. I think Ilia had beaten people that Justin had lost against, you know, the odds were in his favor. Ilia — not that it was a bad thing, but I saw him celebrating before. He’s entitled to do what he wants, but I just took something from it and said, ‘Get back to being uncontactable, less accessible, because the fight game is so serious.'
Joshua knows the feeling. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist and two-time unified heavyweight champion was blown off his own pedestal in 2019, stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr. with the belts on the line. Even so, Topuria’s night rattled him.
Like, you saw his face, what he went through. It’s not a joke, man. It’s not a joke.
