Topuria is expecting an easy night at the office if Justin
Gaethje sticks to his game plan.
Topuria (17-0) will look to defend his lightweight title against
interim champion Gaethje (27-5) in the
UFC White House: Freedom 250 main event on June 14. Topuria is
coming off consecutive knockouts over legends in Alexander
Volkanovski, Max
Holloway and Charles
Oliveira. Gaethje believes all three veterans made the mistake
of going on their back foot against Topuria. Gaethje claims he will
try to move forward, even at the cost of absorbing damage.
Topuria believes half the job is already done if Gaethje tries to
move forward. “El Matador” claims all he needs to knock someone out
is for them to stay stagnant and start trading shots. If Gaethje
moves forward, Topuria believes he won’t take more than a couple of
minutes to knock out “The Highlight.”
“If he’s gonna do what he has been saying, that he is gonna try to
move forward and all that, that’s all I need,” Topuria told
MMA Fighting. “Just try to move forward, and I’m gonna have
half the job already done. All I need from my opponents is to have
them against the wall or stop them and start exchanging punches. If
he’s gonna try to move forward, I’m gonna knock him out in the
first minute, second minute.”
Ilia
Topuria promises it’ll be a short night for Justin
Gaethje during their
#UFCWhiteHouse fight:“I don’t think, I know for a fact that if he moves forward, I am
going to knock him out in two minutes. I am too good for him.”
pic.twitter.com/i2JTqJaV9k— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting)
June 9, 2026