Ilia Topuria Reacts to Jean Silva's Offer to Help Charles Oliveira: 'That’s Just Talk'

 

Things are already getting interesting as for Ilia Topuria as his lightweight debut draws near.

With his fight against Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt on the horizon, Topuria announced that he had split with longtime coaches Jorge and Agustin Climent. 

According to Spanish outlet Marca, the main reason for the split was geographical, as Ilia Topuria and his brother Aleksandre had moved permanently to the Spanish capital Madrid, more than 400 kilometers from Alicante, the city where the Climent Brothers gym is located. In a press conference at the Spanish event “WOWfc” Topuria confirmed the information and said that his main training partners for this camp should be his brother, Mani Tavanaei, Mathias Ribeiro (black belt in jiu-jitsu) and Javi Climent (originally a boxing coach and now a striking coach).

When asked about Jean Silva’s offer t to help Oliveira in camp, the former featherweight champion expressed doubt that the partnership would happen.

"The truth is, if he knows how to imitate me, why didn't he do the same thing I did? That's just talk,” Topuria said. “Because they all say they know how to imitate me, and then they can't. You know what happens inside the Octagon. So I wish him all the luck in the world, but those are just loud statements. Knowing how to imitate me is complicated.”

Topuria and Oliveira will face off in the main event of UFC 317 during International Fight Week on June 28. The duel is for the lightweight title, after Islam Makhachev gave up his title to seek a second belt in the welterweight division.