Josh Hokit speculates that Ilia Topuria ‘beats up’ training partners

Josh Hokit believes Ilia Topuria’s first professional loss was a result of beating up his teammates. 

Topuria was a massive favorite when he put his lightweight title on the line against Justin Gaethje earlier this month at UFC White House. However, Gaethje brutally beat down Topuria, forcing his corner to throw in the towel at the end of the fourth round. Hokit, who knocked out Derrick Lewis on the same card, recently shared his theory for the reason behind Topuria’s upset loss. 

Hokit believes Topuria goes too hard on his teammates in training. According to Hokit, Topuria’s teammates are scared of getting hard to the point where they don’t challenge “El Matador.” Hokit believes Topuria couldn’t perfect his distance management and timing as his teammates don’t pose him any threat in training.

Healthy Balance Needed

  “Topuria makes the mistake of, maybe a trains a little to hard in the sense of, he beats up his teammates, and so now the teammates fear him, where now he’s not getting a certain look,” Hokit said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “That’s the downfall of Topuria. If you’re always hitting people in the liver, you’re always dropping your teammates, the teammates are kind of shelled up or scared to hit you because, rightfully so, no one wants to be dropped in practice… I do train hard, but don’t think I would ever hurt any of my teammates… You want a healthy balance in practice where the guy is still trying to test you, so you have to practice your defense. I think that’s why his distance and timing were off, because of that.”

Hokit (10-0) and Topuria (17-1) got into a feud ahead of the UFC White House event. “The Incredible Hok” told Alex Pereira, “I’ll Chama on your mama,” during a press conference. Topuria, who was sitting beside Pereira, stood up to defend his new friend against Hokit’s insults. Topuria threw a glass of water at Hokit, who was then escorted out of the presser. Hokit also mocked Topuria’s ex-wife at the pre-fight press conference.  

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com

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