Demetrious Johnson outlines how Charles Oliveira could exploit Ilia Topuria's possible weakness at UFC 317

Demetrious Johnson shared his insights on how Charles Oliveira could fight Ilia Topuria effectively. Oliveira will face Topuria for the vacant lightweight title in the UFC 317 main event. Although both men possess significant experience and championship-level talent, most observers seem to favor Topuria to win.

That said, Johnson, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, identified some opportunities that Oliveira could exploit. During a recent appearance on Tim Welch's podcast, Johnson pointed out that Topuria is skilled at backing up his opponents and smothering them with multi-punch combinations.

However, he expressed uncertainty about Topuria's ability to fight effectively in the clinch, suggesting that Oliveira could find success in this area, stating:

"If Charles can get him there – obviously if he grabs the clinch, he can go body, body, head. But, when he does body, body, head, you can still bang him with a knee. So, it's a give and take. If Charles can get him there, it will be interesting to see what happens."

He added:

"If I was to fight Ilia, I would fight him in the clinch. It's like, ‘OK, outside he hits too hard, he's going to stalk me. If I shoot, he's going to defend, and then he's going to back up, or he might try to take me down. What would he do in the clinch?' Because I know he's going to go body, body, and I'm going to go elbow. That's where I'm like I want to see what he would do."

Check out Demetrious Johnson's comments below (45:48):

---

Demetrious Johnson shares ultimate pick for Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

Although Demetrious Johnson outlined a potential key to Charles Oliveira's victory against Ilia Topuria, he ultimately leaned towards Topuria as the likely winner. Speaking in the aforementioned interaction with Tim Welch, Johnson predicted:

"We're going to go with Ilia Topuria. The reason why is, when you look at Charles Oliveira's last few fights...ehe's been hurt in every single one of those fights. He gets dropped and he goes to his back."

He added:

"Even Islam hurt him [Oliveira] on the feet. A lot of those guys don't follow him to the ground. They allow him to get back up and he gets back in a gunfight and he's able to put those guys out. Now, I'm betting on when Ilia Topuria is going to hurt him, he's going to follow him to the ground and try to finish him like Islam did." [43:45]

UFC 317 is scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 28, and Topuria vs. Oliveira will serve as the main event. At the time of his writing, Oliveira is a sizeable +305 underdog while Topuria is a massive -370 favorite.