Ilia Topuria has always had a strong self-belief system and so far, his talk has always been backed by his walk.
He has made a bold prediction for the title fight against Charles Oliveira this Saturday night. The Spanish fighter foresees a first-round finish, he’s very confident of beating Oliveira and claiming his position as the new UFC lightweight champion of the world.
Topuria is ready to strike and grapple. The audience will get to see a comprehensive look at his ground game.
If victory is earned, the next target is Islam Makhachev – even if it’s at welterweight.
me sneaking into the cage to congratulate Ilia Topuria if he beats Charles Oliveira on Saturday: pic.twitter.com/OjQMy6pgRe
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) June 23, 2025
Ilia Topuria on Charles Oliveira
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Ilia Topuria explained how he’s looking forward to dominating the fight.
"He's going to try to walk forward. He's not going to find a way to do it, I'm going to make him play my game, as I said. It's been two different worlds, featherweight and lightweight, I have been able to enjoy the whole process. Even today I feel good. When I was fighting in the featherweight division, at this point I was feeling really, really bad. So yeah, I think I made a great decision".
Heart Warming Moment
Both contenders recently met and expressed nothing but respect:
Así es nuestro deporte. Nunca es personal, cada uno lucha por sus sueños ~
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) June 26, 2025
That’s how our sport is. It’s never personal, everyone’s just fighting for their dreams pic.twitter.com/9SDhRIvgIi