Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira’s feud has continued to spark on, with the Spaniard flaming one of ‘Do Bronx’s’ past performances.
Ahead of Ilia Topuria‘s permanent move up to the lightweight division, after surprisingly vacating his featherweight title, he has begun to lay the foundations for several potential fights at the weight class.
The 28-year-old is hopeful that he will be given an immediate title shot against the current champion, Islam Makhachev, however, the Russian champion isn’t keen on the idea of fighting Topuria.
With the anticipation around his move up to 155lbs palpable, Topuria revealed his new identity ahead of the next stage of his career, changing his ‘El Matador’ nickname to ‘La Layenda’.
Ilia Topuria flames Charles Oliveira’s loss to Cub Swanson as their feud continues
With it uncertain whether the 28-year-old will fight for the title next, he and former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira have been involved in somewhat of an online feud, with both fighters trading barbs over social media.
Oliveira has made it clear that he isn’t interested in a potential fight against Topuria, which has resulted in Topuria claiming that Oliveira is ‘scared’ to fight him.
And with that, the Brazilian has accused ‘La Layenda’ of being disrespectful, which has resulted in Topuria responding.
“I haven’t dissed (Charles), I’ve told the truth. He has 10 losses,” Topuria said at a press conference following WOW 17 in Madrid this past weekend.
Before ‘Do Bronx’s’ career resurgence, his UFC career once came into question as he was labeled a ‘quitter’ for several disappointing losses.
“He says (lightweight) is the toughest division there is. When he was fighting at 145lbs, Cub Swanson beat him up,” Topuria continued.
Oliveira and Swanson fought at UFC 152 in 2012, and Swanson scored a first-round knockout over the Brazilian grappler.
Topuria claims the UFC promised him a title shot before vacating 145lb strap
Although there are question marks surrounding which direction the promotion will go for Topuria’s first fight since moving up, the 28-year-old has claimed that the UFC made him a promise.
Topuria’s reason for vacating the featherweight title was largely to do with the weight cut and not wanting to go through it anymore; however, his vacation came as a surprise.
Despite that, the Spaniard has claimed that the main reason he decided to vacate his title was because the UFC promised him that he would be given a title shot in his first fight.
“I’m not entirely sure what my next fight will be; the only thing I’m sure of is that the UFC’s word is that my next fight will be for the world title… That was the promise for leaving my title vacant, they’ve always kept their promises.”
