About a month out from Ilia Topuria's UFC lightweight title, he has cut ties with the Climent Brothers, who had been his coaches for a significant amount of time. Now, Daniel Cormier has chimed in on Topuria's unexpected change in training camp.
The split occurred because the coaches and the former UFC featherweight champion lived in different locations. Both mentioned that personal projects made continued collaboration difficult.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Cormier shared his thoughts regarding the change, saying:
"If I'm Ilia, I'm still just using those guys because even if I have to do my training camp with someone else, I know that those guys know me so well, that if they can get with me for a week, two weeks, we are still so aligned – especially if there's no bad blood, we're still so aligned that we will get through the fight, and we will still be able to coexist. Not only coexist, but also we gel."
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He added:
"This is the team that got him from a young, young man to being 16-0 and a UFC champion. Beating the two greatest featherweights of all time. So, to have that familiarity is very important to an athlete...To me, that's a little bit odd."
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (3:41):
Mateusz Gamrot previews Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira
Ilia Topuria will compete for the vacant lightweight title against Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 on June 28. Topuria is renowned for his boxing, while Oliveira is recognized for his grappling.
In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, fellow UFC lightweight Mateusz Gamrot previewed the matchup, saying:
"Interesting matchup. Both guys have a chance. If Ilia hits Charles Oliveira, he can knock him down for sure, but I think Oliveira is [too] big for him and a well-rounded fighter, and I think Oliveira will win this fight... It depends how his performance will be in the fight because sometimes he looks bad, but sometimes he looks fantastic. So, I think [on] the ground, he will be much better form [than] Ilia."
Check out Mateusz Gamrot's comments on Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira below (1:12):