Connells Combat
With Ilia Topuria knocking out three of the greatest fighters ever consecutively, he is at the top of the sport and appears unbeatable. Most of the challenges that lie ahead for him seem like highlight reels waiting to happen (other than this guy). In today's video we are going to try to come up with a game-plan to answer the question of: how do you beat Ilia Topuria?
Danger Zones
When fighting Topuria, there are two danger zones that, as his opponent, you must be aware of and avoid at all costs.
Boxing Range
This is the ultimate danger zone for a Topuria opponent. If your fighting style is one that relies on boxing, you are in deep trouble. Topuria's technical boxing skill combined with his devastating punching mechanics, makes the close boxing range a spot which should be avoided at all costs in any way possible.
Against The Fence
When you combine the boxing range and this area, then you start to see Ilia's highlight reel. With Topuria doing his best work up close in boxing range, when he gets his opponent backed against the fence and behind those black lines, they have no where to escape. Topuria's two danger zones work with one another, as the second danger zone amplifies the first one.
With these danger zones in mind, we can formulate a game-plan that avoids them and tries to find success in other areas.
Weaknesses
It's always easier to see a fighters weaknesses once they have been obviously exploited, but in the case of Topuria, an undefeated fighter, the weaknesses aren't as clear. Topuria has shown some susceptibility earlier in his career in areas, but as the fights have gone on he seems less and less susceptible.
Topuria's defences have gotten tighter and it won't be as easy as just throwing a ton of kicks at him. However, the kicking range is still, compared to the rest of his game, a weakness. Topuria's kicking offence is almost solely limited to the rear calf kick.
Since Topuria's kicking weaponry is so limited, opponents can find safety at that range. Keeping the fight at kicking range however, is no easy feat. Topuria is a calculated pressure fighter who will continue to come forward no matter what is thrown in his direction. It will take someone with really good distance management, footwork, and kicking game to keep Topuria out of his preferred range but if it can be done, Topuria will be way less effective and dangerous on the feet.
A Gameplan
Now that we have evaluated the danger zones and the "weaknesses" of Ilia Topuria, let's try to formulate a game-plan to bring into a fight with him.
On The Feet
On the feet, our main weapons of choice should be straight line kicking offence. Weapons like teeps and side kicks can halt Topuria's forward movement while also putting attritional damage on him and scoring points.
These straight line kicks, when thrown successfully, are safer against a power puncher like Topuria because the threat of getting countered is not as high. Round kicks still should be used but when throwing them, you have to be careful of the range in which you throw them. Having good kicking variety and the ability to switch stances would be really important in successfully employing this tactic. If you are uncomfortable moving from southpaw to orthodox, it will limit your footwork in a big way.
In Aljamain Sterling's second fight against Petr Yan, he went into the fight a massive underdog and everybody thought Yan was gonna knock him out and get his belt back. Aljo stylistically is someone who is not meant for close quarters boxing exchanges, while Yan was. In the first round of the bout, Aljo was able to be on his bike for the entire round, stabbing at Yan with front kicks and the odd straight punch while using his versatile footwork to not get fully backed up against the fence. 2 of the 3 judges scored the round for Aljo and it was ultimately the difference in winning him the fight.
The Grappling
The next key in a game-plan to defeating Topuria is grappling. Although kicking range is the safest place to be on the feet, like I mentioned earlier, keeping it there is not easy and it is also very tiring. There will be times when Topuria is able to successfully enter his preferred range and from there you need answers. One answer that Topuria's last three opponents have tried is grabbing the clinch, it's quite obvious that isn't the move. The idea is good, changing the range into a safer spot but the transitionary time is too open to be countered. A great option here would be a reactive takedown.
Even if you can't get a GSP level result from these, you are forcing Topuria to have to think of something other than landing his bombs. When he is defending takedowns he is using energy to defend while also not being a position to flatline you out cold. If you keep providing this threat of the reactive takedown, then his offence in the pocket may become less aggressive with the thought of getting taken-down looming in the back of his mind. The best kind of takedown to avoid counters is entries where your head is on the outside, avoiding any intercepting knees or uppercuts.
Ground Control Time
This would be the icing on the cake for a winning game-plan against Topuria, however it is way easier said than done. To successfully get Topuria down and then hold him down is gonna be a very difficult task because there is no weakness in the grappling game of Ilia. He can wrestle both offensively and defensively very well so it would take an extremely high level grappler to be able to control Topuria on the ground.
Referencing back to the Aljamain Sterling performance at UFC 273, Sterling's ability to control Yan in back to back rounds with the body triangle put him in a such a great position to win the bout. Even though Aljamain couldn't finish the bout, he took practically 10 minutes of opportunity away from Yan to deal out damage. This is something that any Topuria opponent should also prioritize, any way you can find time when you are not on the feet and in danger of getting caught, is fantastic. It is especially good if you are able to control the fight on the ground because that is the most decisive of the "damage avoiding methods" to win the fight.
In Conclusion
With all of that being said, beating Topuria for anyone will be no easy feat. He is truly one of the most special fighters we have seen in a very long time. Given the small weaknesses we have seen and the clear danger zones Topuria presents, we did our best to come up with a game-plan. To recap, that game-plan is...
On the feet
Maintain kicking range
Comfortability in both stances to increase mobility
Avoid boxing range at all costs
Straight line kicking weapons to halt pressure and damage accumulatively
Don't reach for collar ties in boxing range
Grappling
Reactive takedowns(even if unsuccessful, making Topuria think about it)
Don't over expend yourself trying to get the takedown, that will make the strategies on the feet much more difficult to implement
Ground Control Time
Winning rounds while taking away opportunity for Topuria to damage
Way easier said than done but every second you spend controlling the fight is a second where you aren't in danger of getting knocked out