Jorge Climent, coach of Ilia Topuria: "Islam Makhachev is the ideal rival"

With the horizon of the first numbered events of the year in the UFC cleared, the main fights of UFC 317 remain to be established, an evening that will be framed in the International Fight Week, or in other words, the big week of mixed martial arts in Las Vegas. This is a date that would fit perfectly for Ilia Topuria , who decided to leave his world featherweight title vacant to try to conquer the one in a higher division, the lightweight title, which is held by Islam Makhachev.

In this context, the UFC is working on the options it has to fill that card, which will be of utmost importance this season. Thus, Topuria's entourage is pushing for the attempt to take over the lightweight throne to be consummated. " I think that June 28 would be an ideal date, just as the ideal rival would be Islam Makhachev. But from there to what will happen, it is something that does not depend on us, it depends on the UFC, on the managers, on those who run the company. We are going to fight whoever they put us in, we know that Ilia is the bogeyman and it is very difficult to find a rival for him. We will see what happens," says one of Topuria's trainers, Jorge Climent, in ABC.

Right now, everything is up in the air, but the 'Russian way' is still being pushed. " Everything is in negotiations , it is not at a standstill because the UFC wants something to happen. Like all big fights, we will know in due time. Islam Makhachev's is the fight to be made, it is everyone's desire to attack the lightweight belt," one of the founders of the Climent Club tells this newspaper. The next few weeks will be decisive in determining the future of El Matador .

While Ilia is trying to make his way in the lightweight division, his brother Aleksandre made his debut with a victory in early February in the UFC. “Aleksandre did it impeccably, he was very disciplined. He did the job he had to do. In the first round he almost got the knockout, Colby Thicknesse was the best in Australia at that weight. He had a fight where he ran around the cage and it is very difficult to finish like that. When he saw that things were going to last, Aleksandre flowed and dominated at all times. The first fight you do in the UFC is always a test to measure yourself and see if you are really up to it and he did very well. It will give him security for a future in which we will see him shine,” says Jorge Climent.

In any case, the important thing was the victory and having another Topuria fighting in the biggest mixed martial arts league in the world. "Winning is the best, as my brother Agustín says. The happiness he felt at that moment is like a 'highlight'. He lived many moments that he had been waiting for years. When your dream of something you have been fighting for comes true, you reach incredible happiness. Having been with him all this time allows us to see that he had a lot inside and wanted to get it out," says the Argentine coach.