Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria moved up a division and capture the lightweight title by knocking out former champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 on June 28 (full fight video).
The win capped off one of the most impressive three-fight runs in the promotion’s history. “El Matador” knocked out arguably the greatest featherweight of all time, Alexander Volkanovski, at UFC 298 to win the 145-pound championship. In his first and only title defense, Topuria became the first fighter to knockout BMF titleholder and former featherweight champ Max Holloway.
Former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez was ‘shocked’ by the way Topuria was able to quickly and brutally put Oliveira away.
“My biggest thing was I didn’t think Ilia was going to put him out before he hit the canvas. Everybody kind of puts Charles down. Everyone knew Ilia was going to put Charles down. I didn’t know he was going to put him out like that. I was shocked,” Alvarez told Helen Yee Sports.
“When you look at the last three guys: Volkanovski and Charles and Max Holloway, these are legends back-to-back that he’s knocking out. The guy is special. He’s special,” Alvarez continued.
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Topuria has only gone to a decision twice in his 17-fight career. Despite Topuria’s impressive rise, Alvarez still has some unanswered questions.
“What I do want to see out of Ilia, what I really want to see him pushed at is I want to see him on the ground and back up and on the ground and back up. See if he can transition from one thing to the next and still keep this cardio and keep his spirit,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez won the UFC lightweight championship in July 2016 defeating Rafael dos Anjos via TKO in the first round. He was defeated in his first title defense by Conor McGregor four months later.
