UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria has feared in mixed martial arts, but can he damage some of the best of boxing in the ring?
That question arose after Topuria had eliminated Charles Oliveira on UFC 317 last June to become the newest two -division champion two division.
The result also confirmed the three-fighter run of the Spaniard as one of the best and most brutal stripes in history. After he had stopped Alexander Volkanovski for the first time to become a featherweight king, Topuria Max Holloway spread, a man who had never been cold before he was thrown down with 'El Matador'.
The undefeated run of Topuria has not left a surprisingly many roasts of MMA's best boxer, but his skills in that department were recently rejected by former WBA Continental (Europe) Welterweight Champion Conor Benn.
Tyron Woodley says that Ilia would put Topuria Conor Benn cold in boxing
The 23-1 Benn, who lost his unbeaten status against Chris Eank Jr previous time-out, called Topuria while he recorded an open challenge for MMA hunters earlier this month.
“Whoever wants to come to boxing this f— UFC hunters, dangerous game,” Benn told TNT Sports. “Each of this MMA -Lot wants to come to boxing, if you feel like someone, you can come and get it.
“Everyone wants to come by from the UFC … Ilia Topuria, I have this hands brother. Spread American boxers, you get it all.”
But former UFC champion Welterweight Tyron Woodley thinks that 'The Destroyer' would bite more than he could chew.
During an interview with Action Network, Woodley even went so far that he predicted that Topuria would eliminate Benn in the first four rounds.
“I look at what he is doing – his arrangements, his strength,” Woodley said about Topuria. “He shortens his punches up close, extends when he is long, uses Feeints, Jabs, strength in both hands, pushes forward, great defense.
“I think he could do damage in boxing. He could even jump directly against top boys in his weight. I don't know the exact weight, but I think he could be a force. I think Ilia Conor Benn would defeat.
“Benn also has strength, but Ilia's cleaner, sharper, more technical, with the same power,” Woodley continued. “Benn has a lot of power, but I would say that Ilia stops him. I had admitted to say that Ilia Topuria Conor Benn would stop, and I don't think it would cost more than four rounds.
“It would need the first three to adapt to boxing, reach and distance, but between rounds three and four I think he is in unconscious.”
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
If Ilia Topuria doesn't want it, Tyron Woodley is open to BoksConor Benn
If Topuria wants the chance to put his boxing talents to the test against Benn, it is better to start insisting on Dana White to change his attitude on another UFC boxing crossover collision. If not, Woodley wants a piece of Englishman himself.
In his last fight, Woodley was brutally eliminated by Jake Paul. The ex-PUC champion has not participated since that humiliating result of 2021, but is ready to make a comeback four years later.
'The Chosen One' stays without an opponent and would not answer Benn's open challenge to MMA hunters.
“Conor Benn is a bit lighter, but for the right bag I will fight him,” Woodley said in the same interview. “He's a bit messy for me. I think he is a bit like a hunter that moisture in the UFC, 'Hands of Stone' (John Lineker).
“He threw everything out of the waist. Really powerful. But with good straight punches and jabs and timing and reach – he just walked on shots.
“I can't see myself fighting against Benn, I think that's a fight for Ilia, because he called Ilia a bit,” Woodley added. “But he said something about MMA hunters trying to fight Boksers.
“Man, if he wanted to fight, yes, I will fight against his little Hobbit A -.”