Charles Oliveira may be the UFC’s most prolific finisher, but in Ilia Topuria’s eyes, he’s a distant third to names like Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
In a matter of hours, ‘El Matador’ will look to add another world title to his resume when he challenges Oliveira for the vacant lightweight world championship at UFC 317 in Las Vegas.
Over the years, ‘Do Bronx’ has established himself as one of the UFC’s most exciting scrappers, putting on a plethora of instant classics against the likes of Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, Anthony Pettis, Frankie Edgar, and Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Along the way, he’s finished more opponents than anyone else inside the Octagon on top of capturing the 155-pound title.
But to Topuria, Oliveira’s accomplishments pale in comparison to what Volkanovski and ‘Blessed’ have done in their respective careers.
“Where do I rank Charles? Comparing him to Volk and Max, I would rank Volk in the first place, Max in the second, and Charles in the third,” Topuria said during Wednesday’s UFC 317 media day.
Ilia Topuria aims for history-making win against ‘Do Bronx’
Of course, Topuria holds victories over both Volkanovski and Holloway, KO’ing each one of them in spectacular fashion to capture and retain the featherweight title.
After defeating the division’s two most prominent stars, ‘El Matador’ will look to conquer another weight class and etch his name in the history books. That’ll be no easy task against an opponent who has put away 20 of his 23 opponents inside the Octagon — 16 submissions and four knockouts.
Topuria enters his third straight title fight boasting a perfect 16-0 record, with half of those wins coming under the UFC banner.
