Ilia Topuria’s statement about vacating the UFC featherweight title and moving up to the lightweight division stems from psychological fatigue, according to former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier.
“When you’re beating the best guys, especially those who have ruled the division for a long time, a bit of fatigue can set in,” said Daniel Cormier in a recent episode of his podcast. “It’s not muscle fatigue; it’s psychological fatigue. You have to be really good to do what he did to Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.”
“It doesn’t matter what people are saying now. Ilia Topuria and his team were the only ones who believed he could pull it off. It was unbelievable from anyone outside his circle. He went out and knocked out Holloway – that was impossible to believe, especially after he knocked out Volkanovski. That doesn’t happen twice in a row, but he did it, and now he’s feeling emotionally drained.”
Previously, Ilia Topuria stated in an interview with Spanish journalists that he’s ready to leave the featherweight division. He also called out former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, who is the top contender for a fight against the winner of the title bout between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, scheduled for January 18.
