Tag: Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria on Josh Emmett: ‘He’s perfect to be finished in the first round’

Ilia Topuria expects to make quick work of Josh Emmett when they meet in a key UFC featherweight bout in June.

[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] expects to make quick work of [autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag].

In his first UFC headliner, Topuria (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will meet former interim featherweight title challenger Emmett (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) on June 17.

Topuria is unbeaten in his professional MMA career with finishes in all but one of his fights. With Emmett’s willingness to trade on the feet, Topuria thinks the matchup plays right in his favor to notch an early finish.

“Josh Emmett has nothing to lose,” Topuria told ESPN Deportes. “He’s fighting a superstar. He’ll be proud to share the cage with me for the rest of his life. He’ll tell his kids that he was there with me one time. He’s perfect to be finished in the first round. His style matches with mine in a way that I will shine that night. My only concern is that he shows up on the night of the fight.”

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In his most recent outing, the 26-year-old Topuria bounced Bryce Mitchell out of the ranks of the unbeaten with a second-round submission at UFC 282. The finish marked his fourth straight in the octagon.

Emmett will look to rebound from an interim title fight submission loss to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 284 in February. Prior to the setback, Emmett was on a five-fight winning streak – including victories over the likes of Calvin Kattar, Shane Burgos and Dan Ige.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (March 27-April 2)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from March 27-April 2.

UFC books Josh Emmett vs. Ilia Topuria for five-round headliner

Featherweight contenders Josh Emmett and Ilia Topuria have aligned for a UFC main event.

Featherweight contenders will collide in the UFC main event on June 17.

[autotag]Josh Emmett[/autotag] will compete in his second promotional main event when he takes on [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag], who will compete in his first five-round UFC fight. The event does not currently have a known location or venue.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA reporter Alvaro Colmenero broke the news on Twitter.

Emmett (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) looks to bounce back from a UFC 284 submission loss to Yair Rodriguez in February. The co-main event bout was for the interim featherweight title. Prior to the defeat, Emmett won five fights in a row, including victories over the likes of Calvin Kattar, Shane Burgos, and Dan Ige among others.

Topuria (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) remains unblemished as a professional as he enters his most high-profile booking to date. He most recently competed at UFC 282 in December when he submitted grappling ace Bryce Mitchell.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for June 17 includes:

  • Josh Emmett vs. Ilia Topuria
  • Alessandro Costa vs. Jimmy Flick
  • Tereza Bleda vs. Gabriella Fernandes

Brian Ortega responds to Ilia Topuria’s callout: ‘You can’t use your mouth to come up here’

Brian Ortega thinks Ilia Topuria needs to earn his way closer to the top of the UFC’s featherweight rankings before they can fight.

[autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] needs to earn his way to the top.

Unbeaten in his professional MMA career, Topuria (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) emerged as a featherweight contender after a dominant submission finish of formerly undefeated Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282.

Topuria called out Ortega (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), but the two-time title challenger says Topuria needs to continue climbing the UFC rankings instead of calling for someone ranked six spots above him at featherweight.

“People like Ilia Topuria calling me out constantly, I see it now,” Ortega said in an interview with The Schmo. “Two things come to mind: One, I’ve never backed out of any fighter. I fought the best of the best. I fought the people you wish you can fight. Two is, I’m not even able to fight. So let me get back on my sh*t, let me get back to training, and then I’ll gladly humble someone if I have to.

“And once they’re on their way up to where I’m at, then you can come and join me, but you can’t use your mouth to come up here you know. This is the fighting world. You can only do so much with the mouth, and this time is you’re going to have to fight. … After, if he earns his way up, let’s do it. Anyone that my manager says we’ve got to do it with, that we’ve got to fight, then that’s what it is. I’m ready. I’ve never backed out of any fight, and I’m excited to come back.”

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Ortega underwent surgery after dislocating his shoulder in a TKO loss due to injury against Yair Rodriguez last July. Prior to that, he took featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski to the brink, falling short in an all-out war at UFC 266.

MMA Junkie’s 2022 Submission of the Year: Islam Makhachev def. Charles Oliveira

Islam Makhachev finishing the most decorated grappler in UFC history secured him lightweight gold and MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year for 2022.

With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best submissions from January to December 2022.

As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top 10 and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year.

Honorable mentions

MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for December 2022: Ilia Topuria ends Bryce Mitchell’s run

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from December 2022.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from December 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for December.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

Nominees

15 best fight bookings of 2022 that got away due to injuries, weight issues, and more

Check out these highly anticipated matchups in 2022 that fell through due to various issues outside of the cage.

Fight bookings throughout 2022 were not ravaged by COVID-19 like the year before, but a number of key matchups still never made it to the cage.

Unfortunate injuries occurred in training camp, and in two instances, after weigh-ins, leading to last-minute scheduling changes and late bout scratches.

From entertaining veteran matchups to top contender bouts and title fight rematches, MMA lost some incredible fights this year due to various reasons.

Take a look below at some of the biggest pairings and why they did not go ahead as planned (in order of scheduled date).

Video: Which new UFC contenders are legitimate title threats in 2023?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” takes a look at which UFC contenders have cemented their status as title contenders in 2023.

A number of UFC fighters produced impressive 2022 campaigns to elevate themselves to contender status.

From heavyweights [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] and [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] to middleweights [autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag], there has been a solid mix of new fighters making rapid ascents up the ladder as well as contenders who have been around to fight the best holding onto their position.

In 2023, will we see one of these fighters break through to earn a shot at the title? What are the chances that someone like lightweight [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] will get another crack at current champ [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag]? Can [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] keep the momentum of his impressive stoppage of Bryce Mitchell going to fight for the title?

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Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Farah Hannoun, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia take a look at the names who are making waves with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above. And don’t miss this week’s full episode below.

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.

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Spinning Back Clique: Doug Crosby fallout continues, McGregor out of UFC Rankings, more

Join us for this week’s live stream of “Spinning Back Clique” looking at the biggest news and topics in MMA.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Farah Hannoun will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:

  • The emergence of several UFC title contenders in recent weeks. Among them is [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag], who reemerged as a threat at middleweight following his win over Sean Strickland this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 216. You’ve also got the likes of [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag], [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag], [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag], and more who have made statements with wins. Who’s come the closest to realistically having a crack at gold in their respective weight class?
  • The continued fallout surrounding controversial judge Doug Crosby in the wake of UFC 282 and Bellator 289. First, ABC president Mike Mazzulli announced that he would be conducting a review with Crosby after he scored Raufeon Stots’ split decision win 50-45 in favor of loser Danny Sabatello. Then later in the week, California State Athletic Commission executive officer Andy Foster issued a memorandum that places restrictions on out-of-state travel for combat sports officials in response to Crosby serving as judge in the Bellator 289 main event in Uncasville, Conn., and then traveling to judge fights the next day in Las Vegas at UFC 282, including the controversial Paddy Pimblett-Jared Gordon co-main event. What does this all mean moving forward?
  • Conor McGregor out of the UFC rankings. For the first time in eight years, former two-division champion McGregor is out of the promotion’s official rankings after being removed from the lightweight top 15. He hasn’t fought in 19 months, and there’s no telling exactly when (or if) he’ll return. What is the state of McGregor’s fighting career at the moment?
  • T.J. Dillashaw’s detailing of his decision to retire. For the first time since his shocking announcement, the former UFC bantamweight champion opened up to Brendan Schaub about retirement, including the “raw conversation” with his doctor prior to shoulder surgery. What were the biggest takeaways from what we heard from Dillashaw?
  • Valentina Shevchenko potential next move. In an interview with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, the dominant UFC women’s flyweight champion discussed what she considers her wide range of options: title contenders Alexa Grasso and Manon Fiorot, a trilogy with Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title, or perhaps even a superfight with strawweight champion Zhang Weili. If you were matchmaker, who would get the next crack at “Bullet” and why?

“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel. You can watch this week’s episode in the video above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Dec. 13: Ilia Topuria climbs at featherweight

The final UFC pay-per-view of 2022 caused some moves in this week’s rankings update, including Ilia Topuria climbing the featherweight ladder.

UFC 282 had the potential to create some major moves in the light heavyweight division, but due to a split draw in the main event, a featherweight contender takes this week’s update spotlight.

In the main event of UFC 282, former champion [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag] took on [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] for the vacant light heavyweight title. The bout was a replacement for [autotag]Glover Teixeira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] 2, which fell apart due to injury. Unfortunately, no new champion was crowned after the bout resulted in a split draw, but Ankalaev’s performance was strong enough to warrant a move up to No. 4 behind Blachowicz.

Arguably the most impressive performance at the promotion’s final pay-per-view of the year was turned in by UFC featherweight [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag], who dominated the previously undefeated Bryce Mitchell. Topuria was unranked last week, but breaks in at the No. 11 spot after tapping Mitchell. The undefeated rising contender looks poised to make another big jump next time he competes.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.