Ilia Topuria’s long-time head coach Jorge Climent has given his initial reaction after the news that the former featherweight champion and his brother Aleksandre Topuria have both parted ways with him prior to a huge fight for the vacant lightweight title against Charles Oliveira in a little over a months time.
In a new interview Climent confirms that he’ll no longer be coaching the Topuria brothers after they moved their camps to Madrid from Alicante.
“It’s real,” Climent confirmed to Submission Radio. “He [went] to live [in] Madrid, and I have my own project here with my brother… Ilia [went] to Madrid. He [has] his own gym in his house and he wants all of the energy on him.
“We don’t work anymore together. He go on his own, and we are in [ours].”
Despite the disappointment of no longer training the fighter whose career he has overseen up to this point ahead of one of the biggest fights of his life, Climent did however make it clear he wishes Topuria and his brother all the best in the future.
“You feel, always, this is not good for the sentimental feeling, but this [is] life,” Climent said. “We go with him on the journey and now he grow, and he wants to fly away, you know? We are very proud to [go as far as we did] with him. We are very proud for everything he [has done]. … Of course, we are a little sad, but I want everything in his life [to] continue going well. I want all good for him and his brother, and I think that they do the same for us. …
“I don’t know what can be in the future. We have our own [direction right now] We love him. We love his brother. We know he’s going to [beat] everybody that [he fights] because he’s the best.
“Always, he’s going to be like our son.”
