Ilia Topuria’s list for four all-time best fighters in UFC history includes three men that have won belts in multiple weight classes.
The lightweight champion did an hour-long interview with DeepCut and was asked who would be on his Mount Rushmore, and started off the list with former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The list continues with Georges St-Pierre, who held titles at welterweight and middleweight, and Conor McGregor, who like himself won the featherweight and lightweight belts. Middleweight’s most dominant champion Anderson Silva completes the list.
“Bones” Jones returns to the discussion when Topuria is asked to build the perfect fighter. Not only for his fighting IQ, Topuria selects Jones as the best striking.
“And I’m going to tell you why I would say Jon Jones,” Topuria explains. “Maybe he doesn’t have that frequency of punches and all that, but every time he throws something he protects himself, he knows when to throw a punch. Like, he has a great IQ. That’s why I would say that I would choose his striking.”
Topuria was ont he fence between past foe Charles Oliveira and retired fighter Demian Maia for the grappling department, and did not hesitate to select Merab Dvalishvili’s cardio.
“I remember the last time when he came to my house, we did, I don’t know, 10 or 12 rounds,” Topuria said. “And I was like, listen, guy, leave me alone, I don’t want to do anything else. And he was trying to do more rounds and he ended up doing, I don’t know, 35 or 30 rounds. He doesn’t get tired. I don’t know if it’s running or what it is, but he’s built different.”
As for the boxing, Topuria named veterans from the sport, including Darren Till, and went on to include his brother Aleksandre Topuria, who is 7-1 in the sport and 2-0 so far in the UFC with wins over Colby Thicknesse and Bekzat Almakhan.
“He’s not anymore a UFC fighter,” Topuria said of Till, “but his boxing actually was good. And I think that at this point he’s fighting in boxing. Conor was also a good boxer. Petr Yan. And of course my brother. I know how he box. And for me, he’s the best boxer in the UFC right now because I know his level, I know his skills, his technique, everything. I would say that he’s one of the best boxers in the UFC right now. Maybe people don’t know a lot about him, but with time, they’re gonna know it. It’s coming.”
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