Ilia Topuria doesn’t let Terence Crawford control the conversation.
The UFC lightweight champion is currently caught up in oral back and forth with Crawford. Prior to that fight, Crawford and Topria exchanged verbal barbs, claiming that “Elmatador” expects a fast knockout for Crawford if they meet in the ring.
Crawford seemed to throw a subtle shade at Toplia by entering the song. Mariachi’s song For his battle with Alvarez. The song is used by Topuria on her UFC strike.
“I say you’re a fan of MMA, but I don’t even know who I am,” writes Topuria. “It’s interesting. When I first met him, I said, “I wish you good luck in your battle this week.” Your memory fails against you, and soon your chin will also be.
“I represent the entire MMA community. I represent the real battle of pound pounds and No. 1 of pounds in the pound for pound boxer.”
Topuria recently became the UFC lightweight champion in June with a stunning first round knockout by Charles Oliveira. Before that victory, Topuria won the Featherweight title and knocked out future Hall of Fame Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. His record is 17-0.
In the official UFC rankings, Topuria sits at No. 1 and is one of the Islamic Makachevs, number two in the MMA pound for pound rankings. Crawford is regularly mentioned in the discussion of boxing pound pound vests, along with others Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue.