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Original Description
Stream UFC 317 on ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/ufc/ppv
Carlos Contreras Legaspi sits down Ilia Topuria ahead of his fight vs. Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title. Topuria discusses Islam Makhachev vacating the 155-pound title, why he decided to move up and his strategy against Oliveira.
#UFC317 #UFC #Topuria
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Video Transcript
carlos Contaspi in Madrid with El
Matador Ilaturya you're headlining
International Fight Week against a
legend uh very beloved fighter in
Charles Olivera very aggressive style
are you happy with this fight i'm very
happy with the fight to be honest uh I
was expecting to to fight another guy
which is Islam Makache but unfortunately
he run away and now we are facing
Charles Olivera another legendary
fighter
in the UFC so I'm very excited from your
your perspective what happened why the
fight uh versus Islam didn't come to to
fruition
to be honest I don't know he decided to
move up to to the next weight division
as I did
he talked too much in the beginning but
finally like when he had to take a final
decision he decided to run away
i wasn't expect expecting that from him
but at the end of the day it is what it
is i'm fighting for the gold which was
my main main goal since the beginning so
um obviously your your goal was to win a
second belt to the UFC but tell me when
you decided that you were not trying to
fight again at 145 like a that bulk
rematch yeah I took that decision
because it it was very hard to me keep
cut cutting the weight uh my health was
in danger to be honest i was putting my
my health and every weight cut I had to
cut like a lot of weight so I took that
that decision with my family and I
decide to move up to the next next
weight class where I have the the full
confidence that I will become a world
champion also Islam and his team many
other ranked fighters in the the 155
division mentioned that
you had to win a fight in 155 to prove
that you're not small to prove that you
can fight Islam i remember Islam he
moved to 170 so who cares what he said
i'm fighting for the gold how how is
your health how you you already fought
once in 155 how how strong how how much
better you feel i feel much better
finally I'm able to to enjoy the whole
process i'm enjoying the the full
training camp which I wasn't able to
enjoy in in in in the fairway division
so I'm very happy very excited i have a
new chapter in my life so can't wait
can't wait to to take that second belt
many fans especially uh not the Spanish
speakers because you uh you you give a
lot of interviews in Spanish and you you
hear at least in Spain you you have all
the attention from the media but many
fans in the US many fans in the English
speaking world uh think of you as the as
a billion when they when they hear you
talk like as the billion as the as the
bad bad guy in the movie like because
and you've defeating
fighters that are really beloved by the
fans like Max Holloway and Alexander
Walnowski and maybe that's why maybe
that's why but
soon soon soon they are going to be in
my team that's for sure do you do you
enjoy that that being I mean it
obviously helps to sell a fight but are
you No to be honest I prefer to be the
good guy because this is who I am but
but may it takes a little bit longer to
for the people to realize that that I'm
not the bad guy but whatever at the end
of the day I care what my family thinks
about me my friends and what I think
about myself so
it's going to take some time maybe for
the people but soon they are going to
realize that I'm not the bad guy you
have a big team around you like a
marketing sponsorship etc uh is this
persona that this this character where
you're on the mic is something that is
planned that someone
I'm I'm I always try to be try and I'm
always authentic this is who I am uh
sometimes
it bothers when you sound very confident
i don't know why but this is how I need
myself i need myself to to be confident
all the time because the kind of
adversity I'm fa I'm facing i I have to
go inside a octagon facing another man
so I can't be like I don't know what's
going to happen i don't know if I'm
going to win or I'm going to lose or
this or that i always say the truth that
I know that I'm I'm I'm gonna win the
fight that I'm gonna knock him out why
because I I know all the hard work that
I put in so sometimes people
gets angry because you are confident
that's all how big is for you to fight
in international fight because it's
supposed to be the biggest event of the
year they have the fan expo have a
there's always there's always something
big it's Las Vegas you're uh headlining
your first pay-per-view in Las Vegas
actually you did Anaheim and and um and
in in Abu Dhabi so how big is for you
like to cultivate a bigger fan base it's
great it's great it's great to headline
such a such a huge event like
International Fight Week i remember that
I fought in in that event once when I
was fighting against 264 right uh yeah
with Ryan Hall i was in the in the
prelims now I'm headlining that that
event that means that I did a good job
since that moment so very excited and
very happy what's next so obviously
you're thinking about winning this fight
um first what happens how you see this
fight going uh considering what you
stayed from as I told you I respect him
but I'm going to knock him out in the
first round because
who's next who's next after after who
you like
i don't know hopefully
hopefully Patty hopefully yeah hopefully
hopefully he gets one more fight
he he wins that fight of course and
finally we can be in the same octagon
together it seemed it seemed like uh
couple years ago was impossible to have
that fight you were fighting 145 because
of the a 155 now it's something that can
happen like uh it started with a with a
real in London now it's real
it's just matter of time i think that
it's it's going to happen if you ask me
it's going to happen it's a good fight
for you like did you like the body style
do you like it you think people will
enjoy that fight
i think that the people will love that
fight because we have we have a history
behind us we have a reality since a
couple of years
so it's going to be a great fight and a
huge fight i think everyone's going to
going to love that fight why because
it's going to be a real real fight it's
not going to be something like we just
have to fight each other we respect each
other but we have to fight it's going to
be a real fight
you You don't like it at all
well u Ilia obviously we're expecting a
great fight june 28th International
Fight Week UFC 317 um see you there see
you in Las Vegas see you in Las Vegas
mate one more time one more time with
with the victory and still undefeated