UFC 312 recently contained one of the most expected Octagon debut.
What Ilia Topuria was able to achieve with the UFC in four years was downright remarkable.
His undefeated run that led him to the featherweight title made his brother followed the example in signing for the promotion, despite the fact that he has no particularly impressive record on paper.
Aleksandre Topuria, who is the older brother or sister, has many expectations on his shoulders because he was signed on the basis of the performance of Ilia and approval. The 29-year-old started a solid start in Sydney by winning all three rounds against Colby Dicknesse to achieve his first victory over Bantam weight.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Josh Thomson wonders if Aleksandre Topuria can overcome the comparisons
Aleksandre Topuria was certainly enthusiastic about his performance in the first round, where he followed and hurt his opponent with a striking suplex to close the opening stanza.
Despite the fact that he earned a statement of 30-27 on UFC 312, however, 'El Conquistador' did not necessarily meet expectations, whether they were honest reviews or not.
Former UFC hunter became analyst Josh Thomson about this during a recent episode of his weighing in Podcast alongside 'Big' John McCarthy.
“He is going to be a lot compared to his brother, which is fair because they are clearly brothers, but the way his fighting style is, I don't know if I just want to know how it will influence him, you understand what I say?”
Thomson went on how Aleksandre implemented a similar boxing style as what we saw of 'El Matador' in his eight-Vechtrun with the promotion.
His greatest concern is or that means that he will always be overshadowed by his brother, because fans begin to expect the same level of success from the recent addition to the schedule.
“I hope he has a thick skin because the comparison will happen quickly, if it is not by the time this media comes out tomorrow and I compare it here in terms of their fighting style looks, but their fighting style is not the same.
“It is alike, but they are different hunters. Several hunters, but that's a good thing, it's just a matter of he can separate himself. “
There are still many positives for Aleksandre Topuria
Aleksandre Topuria may not have immediately announced himself as a top candidate in the Bantamweight Division, but he still checked many boxes with his performance on 8 February.
He showed that as Dicknesse began to have more success in the striking, he took the fight on the ground to seal the victory and he stayed a patient even when his opponent was in pain. This was also a UFC debut against a replacement of a late notification after he had not fought since May 2023.
Ilia Topuria also went to the Scorecards on his UFC debut and defeated Youssef Zalal through a unanimous decision in 2020, so this is hardly a momentum denser for Aleksandre who still has a lot of time to settle on 135 pounds.
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