UFC star Ilia Topuria has issued a fresh warning to Charles Oliveira if his foe decides to walk forward against him at UFC 317.
On Saturday night, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will battle it out over the UFC lightweight championship. The expectation from many fans and pundits is that Ilia will become a two-weight world champion, but as we’ve come to learn, you simply cannot count Charles Oliveira out at the elite level.
As we look ahead to fight night, there are so many different ways this one can go. Oliveira has already said that he plans on walking forward, just like he always does. In a recent interview, however, Ilia Topuria warned ‘Do Bronx’ that he may be making a mistake.
Ilia Topuria is ready for Charles Oliveira
“You can never count him out because he’s a dangerous guy. He has the most finishes in UFC history. But I don’t know. I have faced those kind of situations many times before, with Volkanovski, with Max Holloway. They were like, ‘No one could beat them, no one could knock them out.’ But they never faced me. They never faced someone that skillful like me. This is what’s going to happen with Charles.
“He thinks that he has some opportunities, but the reality is that he has not. The only thing he has to do is show up, and I’m going to do the rest. I’m going to finish him in the first round. I say that to you like I say I’m going to get a coffee. He walks forward, this is all I need.
“The time that takes me to knock out my opponents is the time that takes me to close the distance. With Charles, I’m not going to need to close the distance because he walks forward, and this is all I need to take his lights out.”