What does Ilia Topuria know in regards to the streets? Greater than a few of his haters would suppose, it appears.
Main as much as his UFC 308 victory over Max Holloway, Topuria appeared to be beefing with half the Russian fighters on the roster resulting from feedback about Islam Makhachev. “El Matador” expressed curiosity in preventing the light-weight champion however specified it might be within the cage, not the streets.
“When did you ever combat on the road European boy?” was the response from Mak’s teammate and Bellator light-weight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.
That grew to become a repeated line throughout social media and boards throughout combat week, and one media member even requested Topuria throughout media day what he knew of road preventing. Topuria refused to reply, however not as a result of he didn’t have experiences to share.
In accordance with Topuria’s mom, Ilia and his brother Aleksandre had been compelled to combat on the streets of Rustavi, Georgia frequently.
“It was not uncommon, it was a every day routine,” she wrote in a brand new e book about her son (translated by Giorgi Kokiashvili). “Each time they had been within the streets, they had been preventing. Think about: a number of boys would seem … they might come and inform you that they wished your hat or your belt. There have been 3 ways – giving up, operating away and preventing.”
I am studying the e book “Mom & Ilia” which is devoted to the story of Ilia Topuria’s mom, Inga, who’s from Abkhazia, a area of Georgia occupied by Russia.
There is part of the story about Ilia and his brother, Aleksandre, preventing within the streets of Rustavi, Georgia. I… pic.twitter.com/X1lxbx6jKA
— Giorgi Kokiashvili (@iHeartGeorgius1) October 30, 2024
“Ilia and Aleksandre at all times most popular to combat, and on the finish of the day, they at all times had their hat and belt.”
“It was not in regards to the issues,” she wrote. “It was about securing and defending their place within the streets … The best way to their largest championship belts began with conserving their very own, peculiar belts within the streets of Rustavi.”
Not that we predict anybody must be encouraging all this speak of road preventing. The UFC has been fortunate that their comparatively latest hands-off method to unsanctioned assaults and brawls hasn’t resulted in any critical harm. They won’t be so fortunate when the added tensions between Russia and Georgia are added into the combo.
The very last thing we’d like is a few scenario the place issues go horribly sideways, particularly involving the UFC’s subsequent potential breakout star. However for the file: Topuria is not any stranger to defending himself on the streets.