Ahead of his return at the end of next month at UFC 317, Ilia Topuria has been told to be more humble. His decision to leave his long-time training base at the Climent Club hasn’t gone down well with many.
Topuria, who headlines the promotion’s International Fight Week return next month, will make his sophomore lightweight outing. The Spain resident will take on former undisputed champion Charles Oliveira in a highly anticipated pairing.
Topuria has missed out on the pairing with the incumbent Islam Makhachev. Nevertheless, the Spanish finisher has made quite the seismic shuffle to his setup.
Moving his base to Madrid, Topuria is ditching long-time coaches Jorge and Agustin Climent, the duo who led him to an unbeaten run in the Octagon and championship success at the beginning of last year.
The Ultimate Fighter 33 coach, Chael Sonnen feels this is a bad idea. The analyst has suggested Topuria is working above his station.
Detailing how sporting greats like Tiger Woods and even LeBron James required their own coaches, Sonnen warned Topuria about his decision to leave his long-time base.
“Ilia Topuria has left his gym,” Chael Sonnen said on his Instagram.
“They’re now saying that this home is where Ilia is training,” he continued, claiming, “If you would have seen this house in Spain… I’m rich and I could not afford an Airbnb with my expensive wife a week in this dude’s house….”
However, despite the riches, Sonnen believes the former featherweight champion is ill-prepared. More so now, as he is looking to reign supreme in the shark tank that is the 155 lbs division.
Every great player has had a coach
“I’ve never seen anybody in any sport be able to prepare themselves. (Floyd) Mayweather has a coach. LeBron (James) has a coach. Tiger Woods, they’ve all got a coach,” Sonnen noted.
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“I’m not saying that it can’t be done. I don’t like the word camp, which by the way, spoiler alert, training camp just means I got a mistress in a different city,” Sonnen added.
“But the exact opposite is what Ilia’s doing. He’s staying home. And for some reason, it doesn’t sit well with me,” the UFC analyst asserted.
Notably, Sonnen’s claims come with some credence. As far as his incoming foe, Brazilian MMA star Charles Oliveira is concerned, Topuria better be prepared for a staggering knockout loss in their showdown.
Oliviera warns Topuria of danger
Taking on the faltering Jai Herbert in a reworked lightweight scrap back in 2022 in London, Topuria had prevailed. Beyond a first-round knockdown, the heavy-handed hitter managed to finish Herbert with his own devastating knockout win in the second.
But Oliveira feels he can hand Topuria some of that same treatment, not only scoring a knockdown, but go one better and finish him with strikes.
“It’s a great fight. He’s a great fighter, but I don’t need to prove anything to anyone about who I am, what I’ve done, what I’ve done in the fight business. The fight came at a huge opportunity. I will knock out this guy. That’s for real,” Oliveira told Full Violence.
Oliveira and Topuria have been beefing for some time now, especially with the Spaniard discrediting the Brazilian’s record by making fun of his 10 losses in the UFC.
