A fight for the vacant lightweight title headlines the UFC 317 fight card on June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria faces former lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira in the fight card’s main event and Topuria predicts a knockout.
“I feel so powerful at 155. I’m gonna touch his chin and it will explode,” Topuria said in a promotional video hyping the event.
Former middleweight champion and analyst Michael Bisping believes Oliveira’s fighting style could play right into Topuria’s prediction coming to fruition.
“If you ask Ilia Topuria, this (fight) is just a mere formality because he is going to touch the chin of “Do Bronx,” he’s going to touch Charles and his chin will explode,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “That is the confidence he has coming into this fight. It’s the confidence he has going into every single fight.”
“Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira is an exciting fighter. He is one of the best in the division and one of the most exciting,” Bisping continued. “But it’s the exciting style that he has that will give me cause for concern if I’m coaching Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira.”
Oliveira typically is comfortable exchanging with anyone. He walks forward, stands in the pocket, puts himself in danger and the fans love him for it.
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“The way that he walks forward like a buzzsaw with reckless abandon, the not given a damn attitude, it’s beautiful to watch. It’s very, very entertaining. No one will be booing when Charles Oliveira fights. But it’s that reckless style that might get him clipped,” said Bisping.
“The guy is excitement personified, but he takes a lot of chances. Ilia Topuria, on the flip side, he’s clean. He’s composed, calm. He’s in the moment. The hands are high. The base is low. The head is moving constantly and he’s looking at his opponent, tracking him down across the octagon. He’s uses the feet to corral him against the fence. He’s looking for openings and then he explodes. He’s got big power. He might explode the chin of Charles Oliveira.”
