Inside Ilia Topuria's heavy UFC 317 gamble: ‘That's a lot of meat'
For Ilia Topuria, it's on to bigger and better things at UFC 317.
Oh, and it's on to more enjoyable things as well, now that the undefeated former featherweight champion is gunning for a second UFC title on Saturday in Las Vegas when he takes on ex-lightweight champ Charles Oliveira for the vacant 155-pound strap.
'I feel much, much better,' said Topuria, speaking with The Post recently via video call. 'That 10 pounds makes the difference; trust me. Just imagine 10 pounds of meat on the table; that's a lot of meat.'
Really, though, Topuria (16-0, 14 finishes) was sapping his body of 10 extra pounds of water to reach the 145-pound limit for each of his championship fights — a pair of victories over divisional legends Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway that earned him 2024 fighter of the year recognition.
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