Tag: ilia topuria

Ilia Topuria Takes Aim At Movsar Evloev For ‘Shameful’ UFC Vegas 56 Win

UFC up-and-comer Ilia Topuria wasn’t impressed by Movsar Evloev’s performance at UFC Vegas 56. Evloev dismantled Dan Ige via a unanimous decision in the UFC Vegas 56 co-main event. He used his grappling combined with his opportunistic striking to control the fight from start to finish. Evloev and Topuria have gone at it on social…

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UFC up-and-comer Ilia Topuria wasn’t impressed by Movsar Evloev’s performance at UFC Vegas 56.

Evloev dismantled Dan Ige via a unanimous decision in the UFC Vegas 56 co-main event. He used his grappling combined with his opportunistic striking to control the fight from start to finish.

Evloev and Topuria have gone at it on social media for months, stemming from when their pre-scheduled fight at UFC 270 was canceled due to an Evloev withdrawal. Ever since then, Topuria has been on the hunt and aimed at Evloev for allegedly ducking him.

Most UFC fans expected Evloev to call out Topuria in his post-fight interview, but he instead called for a fight with Arnold Allen. This prompted a heated reply on social media from Topuria.

“[Movsar Evloev] You fight shamefully!” Topuria tweeted following the fight. “Another decision without any attempt to finish it. On top of that you don’t know how to speak. You don’t have the balls to call me out! Now everyone can really see how you run away! Shamefully.”

Topuria reportedly has a fight lined up with Edson Barboza for a to-be-determined date. The promotion hasn’t confirmed the booking, but it is allegedly in the works.

Just last month, the two featherweights went at it on social media and laid the groundwork for a potential fight after their earlier failed booking. Evloev said that Topuria would need to crack the top 10 to deserve a fight with him.

Both fighters seem to have different targets for their next fights, but a featherweight grudge match between Evloev and Topuria could be on the horizon.

Did you want Movsar Evloev to call out Ilia Topuria following UFC Vegas 56?

Continue Reading Ilia Topuria Takes Aim At Movsar Evloev For ‘Shameful’ UFC Vegas 56 Win at MMA News.

Ilia Topuria Rips Into Movsar Evloev For Fighting “Shamefully” At UFC Vegas 56: “Movsar And Ige Both Suck”

Ilia Topuria, Movsar Evloev, Dan IgeIlia Topuria was not impressed by Movsar Evloev’s impressive showing at UFC Vegas 56. This past Saturday, Movsar Evloev dominated Dan Ige to grab a unanimous decision win in UFC Vegas 56’s co-main event. Evloev landed about 100 more strikes than Ige overall and the damage on the Hawaiian’s face was evident. Ige sat at […]

Ilia Topuria, Movsar Evloev, Dan Ige

Ilia Topuria was not impressed by Movsar Evloev’s impressive showing at UFC Vegas 56.

This past Saturday, Movsar Evloev dominated Dan Ige to grab a unanimous decision win in UFC Vegas 56’s co-main event. Evloev landed about 100 more strikes than Ige overall and the damage on the Hawaiian’s face was evident. Ige sat at the tenth spot on the rankings going into the bout, three above his victor.

Ilia Topuria fires shots at Movsar Evloev

Evloev called out the sixth-ranked contender at featherweight, Arnold Allen, following arguably the biggest fight of his professional career. The 28-year-old Russian offered to take on the Englishman in his home country at the upcoming UFC London event.

Ilia Topuria, who recently broke into the UFC rankings, was far from pleased with Evloev’s performance on the night and the subsequent callout of Allen. ‘El Matador’ shared his feelings on Twitter saying that Evloev fought shamefully and was scared to call him out.

Topuria’s first tweet took aim at both Evloev and Ige.

“Movsar and Ige both suck. I hope to see something special that could motivate me to fight the winner. #UFCVegas56“

Topuria alleged that Evloev doesn’t “have the balls to call” him out.

“@MovsarUFC You fight shamefully! Another decision without any attempt to finish it. On top of that you don’t know how to speak. You don’t have the balls to call me out! Now everyone can really see how you run away! shamefully”

Ilia Topuria and Evloev were matched up in the past

Ilia Topuria and Movsar Evloev are currently two of the most highly touted prospects in the UFC featherweight division and were slated to face each other on January 22 at UFC 270. However, Evloev was forced to withdraw from the bout after testing positive for COVID-19. The fight was canceled and Topuria was pulled from the card.

Based on his tweets, it seems that Topuria would like to get his scrapped bout with Evloev re-booked. Evloev may not find the fellow undefeated Topuria as a suitable matchup for him in terms of rankings. They are both undefeated but Topuria is right on the periphery at number 15 on the list.

“I’m ready for next week. Just give me a good name,” Evloev said in his post-fight press conference. “I’m tired of fighting with no-names, and I deserve good names. And I’m the next champion. Just give me good names. I deserve this.”

“One more thing, I want to say to my division: I’m the next champion,” Evloev said.

Report: UFC Working On Ilia Topuria Vs. Edson Barboza For TBD Date

A UFC featherweight battle between contenders Ilia Topuria and Edson Barboza is in the early planning stages for an event later this year. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani first reported news of the targeted booking. “UFC is talking about booking Ilia Topuria vs. Edson Barboza next, I’m told. Not finalized yet!” Helwani wrote in a recent…

Continue Reading Report: UFC Working On Ilia Topuria Vs. Edson Barboza For TBD Date at MMA News.

A UFC featherweight battle between contenders Ilia Topuria and Edson Barboza is in the early planning stages for an event later this year.

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani first reported news of the targeted booking.

“UFC is talking about booking Ilia Topuria vs. Edson Barboza next, I’m told. Not finalized yet!” Helwani wrote in a recent post on his Substack.

Topuria had initially expected to face adversary Movsar Evloev next, but the UFC is going in a different direction than what Topuria desires. He most recently defeated Jai Herbert via second-round knockout at UFC London earlier this year.

Topuria has competed at featherweight for most of his MMA career but hasn’t ruled out future bouts at lightweight. He is an undefeated 12-0 in his professional career with recent wins over Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson.

Topuria signed with the UFC following impressive stints in Brave CF and Cage Warriors in 2020.

If the proposed booking comes to fruition, Topuria will face his toughest test against the UFC veteran Barboza. While his featherweight run has come with mixed results, Barboza has competed against some of the top contenders at lightweight and featherweight.

Barboza is looking to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses to Bryce Mitchell and Giga Chikadze. Before that, he earned back-to-back wins at featherweight against Makwan Amirkhani and Shane Burgos.

What are your thoughts on the targeted Ilia Topuria vs. Edson Barboza matchup?

Continue Reading Report: UFC Working On Ilia Topuria Vs. Edson Barboza For TBD Date at MMA News.

Topuria & Evloev Lay Groundwork For Grudge Match After Failed Booking

UFC featherweights Ilia Topuria and Movsar Evloev are at it again on social media and are in talks of a potential grudge match down the line. Topuria and Evloev are two of the top featherweight prospects in the UFC. They were supposed to fight at UFC 270 earlier this year before Evloev pulled out on…

Continue Reading Topuria & Evloev Lay Groundwork For Grudge Match After Failed Booking at MMA News.

UFC featherweights Ilia Topuria and Movsar Evloev are at it again on social media and are in talks of a potential grudge match down the line.

Topuria and Evloev are two of the top featherweight prospects in the UFC. They were supposed to fight at UFC 270 earlier this year before Evloev pulled out on short notice.

Evloev is slated to face Dan Ige in a UFC Fight Night co-headliner on June 4th. But, Topuria recently offered him a bout with a victory over Ige.

“Make sure you make weight and enter top 10 before I will even pay attention fathead,” Evloev replied.

“And if you in a rush you know where to find me.”

After getting word of Evloev’s reply, Topuria got the last word in.

“In the first fight you didn’t even appear,” Topuria said. “For your second opportunity, you’re already making excuses. Make sure you win your next fight and then you will fight against me, the number 1. But for everything to happen you must win so get to work kid and make sure you appear to this one.”

Topuria earned a lightweight win over Jai Herbert at UFC London in March. He has competed at featherweight for a majority of his UFC tenure, picking up wins over the likes of Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson.

Topuria had gotten into a heated altercation with Paddy Pimblett in the leadup to UFC London and many expected that would be the next matchup. However, a recently-leaked matchmaking board indicates the UFC may be arranging another opponent for Pimblett.

Evloev is undefeated with 15 straight wins to begin his professional MMA career. He most recently earned decision wins over Hakeem Dawodu and Nik Lentz.

While Evloev is focused on his fight with Ige in a few weeks, a grudge match with Topuria could be on the horizon.

Do you want to see Ilia Topuria vs. Movsar Evloev next?

Continue Reading Topuria & Evloev Lay Groundwork For Grudge Match After Failed Booking at MMA News.

EXCLUSIVE – Damon Jackson Believes Ilia Topuria Will Be A Big Name But Won’t Fight “Trash” Paddy Pimblett

Damon Jackson, Ilia Topuria, Paddy PimblettUFC featherweight Damon Jackson believes Ilia Topuria to be a rising superstar and has backed him to win over Paddy Pimblett. Having had multiple canceled bouts and replaced opponents, ‘The Leech’ shared his thoughts on the shift in the mindset of competitors nowadays. Jackson is currently on a two-fight win streak with a prior loss […]

Damon Jackson, Ilia Topuria, Paddy Pimblett

UFC featherweight Damon Jackson believes Ilia Topuria to be a rising superstar and has backed him to win over Paddy Pimblett.

Having had multiple canceled bouts and replaced opponents, ‘The Leech’ shared his thoughts on the shift in the mindset of competitors nowadays. Jackson is currently on a two-fight win streak with a prior loss to Ilia Topuria in 2020. The 33-year-old spoke about how well-rounded Topuria is and how he was caught in the first round to get knocked out.

In an exclusive interview with LowKick MMA, Damon Jackson talked about his upcoming fight against Darrick Minner at UFC Fight Night 207. He was asked about a potential matchup between Topuria and another one of the hottest prospects in the game, Paddy Pimblett. As someone who’s faced ‘El Matador’ Jackson attested to his abilities and favors him to win over Pimblett.

“Ilia 100 percent. Paddy is kinda trash, honestly,” Jackson said. “I think that they’re going to have to feed him some nobodies for him to keep building his name up. I think he’s entertaining because of his personality but his skill level is not impressive. It is jiu-jitsu, it’s probably the best thing he has going for him and then his just mindset. His attitude of like, ‘f**k you, I’m going to fight’ and that’s great.”

Jackson made it clear he wishes Pimblett the best and hopes he gets better with time.

“I hope it goes good for him and I hope he gets better. I hope he really sees that early without having to take those big losses because it’s not easy to tell yourself that you’re not that good, this part. So you gotta really work. Hopefully, he zones in and gets better over this time.”

Damon Jackson doesn’t believe UFC will make that fight

As fun as it is to discuss potential fights, Pimblett vs. Topuria is one that we may likely never see play out in real life. Damon Jackson does not believe the UFC will risk losing out on one of their bigger names just yet. He compared Pimblett’s journey in the promotion to that of Sean O’Malley who’s become infamous for fighting lower-ranked opponents.

“He does not need to fight Ilia. I don’t think the UFC will make that fight happen. I think that they want to build Ilia up but they don’t want to build Ilia up on beating him because he could be a big name. Paddy could be such a big name and they definitely don’t want to ruin that this early.

He reckons the UFC will give Pimblett the ‘Sean O’Malley treatment’.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Paddy gets fed like one or two more guys and then they might test him. They’re kinda doing that with Sean O’Malley, you know, where he just now got a top ten. I wouldn’t be surprised if they treat him the same way.”

Jackson will be looking to extend his win streak to three when he takes on Minner this June 4 at UFC Fight Night 207.

Ilia Topuria: I’d Kill Paddy Pimblett If We Were Alone In A Room

Ilia Topuria doesn’t expect tensions to have eased if he collides with lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett again in London this week. While they both have opponents of their own to focus on for this weekend, Kazula Vargas for the Englishman and Jai Herbert for the Georgian, Pimblett and Topuria have formed a more intense feud…

Continue Reading Ilia Topuria: I’d Kill Paddy Pimblett If We Were Alone In A Room at MMA News.

Ilia Topuria doesn’t expect tensions to have eased if he collides with lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett again in London this week.

While they both have opponents of their own to focus on for this weekend, Kazula Vargas for the Englishman and Jai Herbert for the Georgian, Pimblett and Topuria have formed a more intense feud between themselves.

They’d previously clashed online following distasteful tweets “The Baddy” posted about the Russo-Georgian War. But the animosity between the pair reached a boiling point at the fighter hotel on Tuesday.

After Topuria approached Pimbett, objects and insults were exchanged, with the ranked UFC featherweight seemingly landing a punch to the Liverpudlian’s arm.

At media day, Pimblett gave his side of the story, accusing “El Matador,” who he branded “hand sanitizer boy,” of trying to “act hard” and doing “nothing” despite a clear number advantage.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Topuria responded. He claimed Pimblett initially tried to act friendly. According to the Georgian, while he tries to be a “gangster” online, the Englishman was “quiet like a bitch” in person.

“He saw me and he was like, smiling at me, and he wanted me to shake his hand. I don’t know what he wanted for my part,” recalled Topuria. “And (when) I saw him, I threw a bottle to his face and then everything started. But he was quiet like a bitch. He didn’t say anything. Fuck him. He’s just a man on Twitter. This is not Twitter. This is real life. If you wanna play a gangster, be a gangster by the end. If not, just stay quiet, kid.”

When asked what would happen if he comes across Pimblett again prior to Saturday’s fight night, Topuria revealed he’s expecting a similar situation. However, if he were to find himself alone with “The Baddy,” he expects things to end very differently for the Brit.

“The same thing you saw in the video (will happen if I see him again). If I have the chance, I don’t know, if they give me the chance to be with him alone in a room, I’m gonna kill this motherfucker,” asserted Topuria.

Topuria: Pimblett Should Be Thankful After Hotel Clash

Ultimately, while footage of the incident has gone viral, the pair avoided a full-blown brawl, with members of Topuria’s entourage quickly separating their man from his fellow main-card competitor.

When recalling the incident, Pimblett suggested he escaped a six-on-one clash unscathed. But further into his conversation with Helwani, Topuria noted that the members of his team mostly played peacekeeping roles.

He believes Pimblett should be thankful for that, because if they didn’t, he would’ve ended up in hospital.

“He saw me and he shit on his pants… I was trying to take his head off. He (posted) something like, ‘It was six versus me.’ You can see in the video, my coach was on his back making a coffee,” said Topuria. “(He was) calm. He didn’t even move.

“No one touched him. My brother was separating me. Can you imagine if everyone go against him? He was alone. We will kill him,” added Topuria. “He should be thankful (to) all my teammates because they separated me. If not, he will be, I don’t know, in the hospital right now.”

What did you make of Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s hotel altercation?

Continue Reading Ilia Topuria: I’d Kill Paddy Pimblett If We Were Alone In A Room at MMA News.