Chael Sonnen concerned by Ilia Topuria's split with coaches ahead of UFC 317

USA Today

23-05-2025

Chael Sonnen concerned by Ilia Topuria's split with coaches ahead of UFC 317
Chael Sonnen is concerned with some of the recent headlines around former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
This week, it was announced that Topuria has split with his long-time coaches, Jorge and Agustin Climent, and will no longer continue his career under the Climent Club banner. The news comes at an interesting time as Topuria's highly anticipated lightweight move sits weeks away. Topuria takes on former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title in the main event of UFC 317 on June 28 in Las Vegas.
Sonnen isn't too sure this was a good decision.
"It's a hard story for me to look at," Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. "I just know I couldn't have done it. I couldn't have done it. If one day Clayton (Sonnen's coach) calls me up and tells me he's out, I would've been done. I wouldn't have done it, and I could overcome a lot of things, but not that. Now, this was by choice. This wasn't a death like Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato just for example. This was by choice, but you're still somewhere else, and I have never seen anybody be able to prepare themselves, and I know plenty of people in different sports that have tried."
Topuria moved from Alicante, where Climent Club is located, to Madrid last year in pursuit of better business opportunities. Training with Climent Club at a distance didn't work for either party, thus causing the split.
Topuria will continue to train with his boxing coach Javi Climent – who moved from Alicante to Madrid; his nutritionist and physical trainer Jesus Gallo and Aldo Martinez; and jiu-jitsu black belts Mani Tavanaei and Mathias Ribeiro – who were incorporated into Topuria's team in recent times.
Sonnen is concerned about there not being an apparent head coach for Topuria.
"Mayweather has a coach, Mike Tyson has a coach, Serena has a coach, Lebron has a coach, Kobe has a coach, Tiger Woods," Sonnen said. "They've all got a coach. Everybody has somebody – whether it's knowledge, inspiration or that extra drive, but everybody has a coach. I have seen plenty of greats that have tried to hire that coach. I have seen plenty of greats that have lost that coach because they refuse to hire him where they thought they could replace somebody and just give him some money, and he'll be with them for a camp. Or more often, I refuse to pay him, so he's gone and I have somebody else. I just don't have one of those stories that has worked out."
Time will tell on how things will work out for Topuria, but Sonnen isn't a fan of this system Topuria has put in place, which now has him training at home in Madrid.
"For some reason, it doesn't sit well with me," Sonnen said. "I'm trying to predict, and I'm trying to foresee, and I'm thinking about these people coming into his house every day, and then they leave the house and then somebody has to go clean the room, and then it just gets annoying. We'll see how long this lasts. We'll see how long this works out."