UFC legend Charles Oliveira has offered his prediction for the heavily rumored Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje title fight.
As we know, Ilia Topuria is the reigning UFC lightweight champion, knocking out Charles Oliveira to claim the throne. It served as his second weight class title win in the promotion, and as we look ahead to the future, it seems like Justin Gaethje is the right man to step up next given that he won the interim title in a UFC 324 clash with Paddy Pimblett.
Ilia Topuria is easily one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts today and it feels like he’ll keep going from strength to strength. There’s no guarantee of that, but he seems to possess the power and confidence necessary to beat just about anyone the UFC puts in his way.
Charles Oliveira, who has fought both Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, recently gave his thoughts on what the fight could look like in a recent interview.
Charles Oliveira on Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje fight
“A fight’s a fight, but my money will be on Topuria to win,” Oliveira told MMA Junkie through an interpreter.
‘Do Bronx’ went on to make it clear that a rematch with Topuria, in an attempt to avenge his defeat to ‘El Matador’, isn’t necessarily his priority.
“The reality is I’m not looking for rematches, I’m not looking for revenge on the guys who have fought me,” Oliveira said. “I’m just looking to fight, and I want to win, and I want to be the champion. So, whoever has the belt, that’s who I’m fighting. It’s not specifically looking for that rematch with him.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
Many people will predict Ilia to pick up the win given his track record against some of the lightweight and featherweight division’s very best, but as we know, Gaethje has made a career out of proving people wrong. Either way, fans are just excited to see what happens, and if it goes down at the White House as predicted, there’s a decent chance it will be the main event of the evening.