UFC sensation Ilia Topuria feels a bit weird with continually fighting fan favorites as he prepares to square off with Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317.
On Saturday night, Ilia Topuria will attempt to join a very exclusive club when he tries to become a two-weight world champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He’s already conquered the featherweight division but now, he’s shifting his focus to lightweight, and it’s Charles Oliveira who will try and prevent him from claiming the gold.
Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of him, Ilia Topuria is easily one of the most exciting fighters in all of mixed martial arts. He can do things that very few others can do, and he is able to string them all together to form one of the most well-rounded fighters we’ve seen in a long time in the sport.
As we know, Charles Oliveira is a massive fan favorite. While Ilia Topuria doesn’t like fighting the ‘good guys’, he knows that it’s just part of the gig.
Ilia Topuria doesn’t care about being the villain
“I don’t care if people love them or not. Of course, I would prefer to fight someone that people don’t like as much as Charles or Volkanovski or Max, because I don’t know if you can find many people that say something bad about them. So, yeah, it’s kind of weird.”
This is easily one of the most exciting fights on the calendar right now in the sport, and especially in the UFC. Oliveira is expected to bring his very best this weekend and it may well be enough to crown him as a two-time world champion, but make no mistake about it, a lot of eyes are on Topuria to see whether or not he can really cement himself as an all-time great.
