Ilia Topuria believes Ryan Hall isn’t as good as many think.
Hall, the former TUF 22 winner, has been out of action since July of 2019 when he earned a dominant decision win over Darren Elkins. Since then, the jiu-jitsu wizard has been trying to get a fight but injuries and other reasons kept him out until Saturday night at UFC 264 when he will face the undefeated, Topuria.
It’s an intriguing matchup, as Topuria is also solid on the ground, yet he isn’t overhyping Hall’s ground game as many others do. Instead, he doesn’t believe Hall is as good as many think.
“For me, he’s like a normal person. Nothing special for me,” Topuria said at UFC 264 media day. “Because like I said to you, where I (grew) up, I have a lot of guys who has very similar style (as) him. So it’s a good opportunity for me. He’s not so good like everyone is talking about.”
Entering the fight, many believe if Topuria keeps the fight standing he will have success. However, Hall has some underrated striking, but for Topuria, he says Hall hasn’t fought anyone that good in the UFC, and he plans to show there are levels to this on Saturday at UFC 264.
“Of course, I’m gonna try to be in stand-up all the time, but I have no problems to go with him to the ground,” Topuria said. “Because if you see him, he has four fights inside the UFC, and he has just one submission against B.J. Penn, who wasn’t the same guy (from 10 years ago). He was an older man. And he (got) the submission, but he (had) another three fights, and it was disgusting.”
In the end, Ilia Toupria is oozing with confidence as he believes Hall poses no danger to him on the feet and he’s confident it won’t go to the ground. With that, the Georgian expects to remain undefeated after UFC 264.
“Man, come on. He’s really bad in striking. He don’t have knockout power. He’s just, like, shitty kicks and nothing else,” Toupria concluded.
Do you think Ilia Topuria will beat Ryan Hall at UFC 264?
