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Ilia Topuria ascending into the rarefied air of two-division UFC champions this weekend would be a major boost to MMA in Spain, according to Costello Van Steenis.
UFC 317 is headlined by Topuria, who battles Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt, with the former featherweight champion looking to best Oliveira in this year's International Fight Week main event.
Appearing on Bowks Talking Bouts, Costello Van Steenis also finds himself in his own title bid on July 19 as he battles for Johnny Eblen's middleweight crown at PFL Africa 1.
When expressing his desire to bring PFL to Spain and what an Ilia Topuria title win this weekend could do to bolster Spanish MMA, Van Steenis said:
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"I think that's gonna be really interesting. I'm still doubting I'm staying awake for this fight because like I'm in training camp. So then I'll have to wake up early and see it later on. But I believe Ilia's gonna [beat] Charles in there in a nasty way. This guy's hands are made of rocks. We both come from the same city."
"He's been growing up in Alicante... How good would that be? He's gonna get the title in June... I'm gonna be getting the PFL title in July. Then we're both gonna take it to the same place, to Alicante where we both come from. That's making history," he added.
Check out Costello Van Steenis' thoughts below (13:48):
Ilia Topuria is not pushing as hard for UFC Spain lately
While Costello Van Steenis seems keen on bringing PFL to Spain someday, it seems like Ilia Topuria has cooled off a bit on his desire to bring a UFC card to Spain if he bests Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.
The 28-year-old has mentioned his desire to bring the octagon to Spain, and while it seems like the promotional brass is starting to discuss the idea a bit more, Topuria has seemingly pulled back from the idea a bit.
The Georgian-Spanish mixed martial artist expounded upon why this UFC Spain desire has changed a bit during a press conference in Spain. Topuria's comments were later translated to English, where he stated [via Bloody Elbow]:
"It's because of the agreement the UFC has with ESPN, the scheduling issue, because if they bring a numbered event to Spain, it would have to be at 4AM or 5AM to be prime time on US television. So I don't see it as very feasible to have everyone on their feet at 4AM or 5AM."
