UFC Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria has named his Mount Rushmore of MMA fighters in a new interview, and then went on to build the perfect fighter based on who he thinks the best is in certain key categories of the sport.
There’s some common choices in Topuria’s top-four best fighters of all-time, including Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, while there’s also a spot for Conor McGregor, who was a fighter who inspired him in his youth.
Topuria was then tasked with constructing the perfect fighter, and went into detail about his choices, starting with naming Jon Jones as his perfect striker.
“I’m going to tell you why I would say Jon Jones,” Topuria told DeepCut. “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.”
Grappling was up next and Topuria struggled to decide between either Charles Oliveira or Demian Maia.
However, when it came to choosing the fighter with the best cardio Topuria was in in doubt that it had to be Merab Dvalishvili.
“I remember the last time when he came to my house, we did, I don’t know, 10 or 12 rounds,” Topuria said of Dvalishvili. “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.”
Meanwhile, Topuria had some unexpected choices when it came to naming the best boxer in MMA.
“He’s not anymore a UFC fighter, but [Darren Till’s] boxing actually was good,” Topuria said. “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 [Aleksander Topuria]. 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.”
