Kamaru Usman in awe of Ilia Topuria's knockout win over Charles Oliveira, says he "dominated" in "every facet of the game"

Kamaru Usman recently shared his thoughts on Ilia Topuria's incredible knockout win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 317. Usman highlighted areas in which Topuria thrived en route to becoming the latest two-division UFC champion.

Topuria vowed to finish Oliveira in the first round prior to their bout and did exactly that, which set the MMA community into a frenzy. 'El Matador' remained in control throughout the entire fight, even in grappling exchanges, before knocking 'Do Bronx' out.

In the latest episode of Pound 4 Pound, Usman heaped praise on Topuria for his impressive performance and knockout win. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' mentioned that it was shocking for how dominant and one-sided Topuria's win was. He said:

"[Topuria] dominated [Oliveira], every facet of the game. Charles went to the ground, [Topuria] passed his guard and crucified him. Who has shown all the facets of the game as well as he has and still put them away?... Charles finishes a lot of guys because he just goes forward. You can't do that against Ilia... Probably one of the most well balanced mixed martial artists I've seen."

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Check out Kamaru Usman's comments regarding Ilia Topuria below:

Kamaru Usman says it would be difficult for UFC to book Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett

Kamaru Usman also believes it would be very difficult for the UFC to book Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett because of the current landscape of the lightweight division.

In the aforementioned episode, Usman mentioned that Pimblett's current ranking and not having already fought or defeated top-ranked contenders could be his detriment for a potential title shot. He said:

"What makes the UFC so great is because the best fight the best. And so, it's very difficult to say, 'Paddy Pimblett, you're next up', when you haven't fought Arman Tsarukyan... Justin [Gaethje]... Dustin [Poirier]... Charles Oliveira. That's difficult. You haven't fought Mateusz Gamrot... Moicano... Dariush. So it makes it very difficult to just say, 'Because you got some heat, you could make some noise with this fight, we're going to move you up to fight'... I still do think [Pimblett] still needs a fight or two."

Check out Kamaru Usman's comments below (11:22):

About the author

Giancarlo Aulino is an MMA news writer and interviewer at Sportskeeda. Having been onboard since 2021, Aulino has written list articles, before transitioning to MMA news writing.

In addition to writing at Sportskeeda, Aulino can be heard on VIBE 105.5FM in Toronto, Canada, where he conducts interviews called 'VIBEtalks.' Aulino's segments have featured many respected athletes, broadcasters, and celebrities. In 2024, Aulino, along with his VIBE 105 Sports team members, rebranded their content to The Game Plan 'TGP'.

In addition to MMA, Aulino was previously a pro wrestling writer and soccer (Football) reporter and covered Toronto FC (Major League Soccer) and York United FC (Canadian Premier League).

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Edited by Tejas Rathi