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Surname Topuria is synonymous with struggle, warrior, elite athlete, promising future. Brothers Ilia and Alexander. The former, ranked at number 15 in the UFC featherweight division, has already managed to make a name for himself within the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) company in the world, even more so after knocking out Jai Herbert in the London UFC. The second is on his way to do it, he is convinced that it will be a matter of time.
“In the short term, my goal is to keep fighting, but of course my ultimate goal is get to the UFC and hang my belt. God has a plan for me, I don’t know when I’m going to be in the UFC exactly, I’m not a fortune teller, but I’ll probably be there in two years,” says Aleksandre Topuria (4-1) exclusively during the meeting with ABC on the cafeteria of the Hilton Hotel in the British capital.
The Hispanic-Georgian fighter is aware that many fans now look at him as Ilia’s brother, but he has been his corner and his trainer as well, and he is eager to show that his name also has its own entity. The certain thing is Aleksandre disappeared in part of the map when being out of competition since 2015, when he received his only loss. But last year he came back with a bang, knocking out his opponent in less than two minutes. And this year he has done the same again.
«I could say that I am in the best moment of my career but do not doubt that I will grow more and moreWhen you work day by day, the only thing you see is improvement. I would like to do four fights this year,” he tells this newspaper ambitiously. For those who still do not have him on the map, Aleksandre talks about the eternal comparison with his brother Ilia: «As fighters, we have things that differentiate us, but we are brothers, we come from the same school, yes, we have the same instinct which is to end fights».
What they no longer do together is battle against each other in the gym, too many sparks jumped and the chances of injury arose: «For years we haven’t sparred together when it’s boxing and with gloves, we try to respect each other , because we could end up as we did years ago, without a mouthpiece, with cuts… But one matures over time! », he laughs. To conclude, we ask you to leave us a forecast. When will Ilia Topuria be UFC champion? “The day that Ilia faces the current champion, at that moment he will be champion, because he is going to win the belt.”
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