Outside Source
Gaethje (29-5) challenged Aleksandre’s brother, Ilia Topuria (17-1), for the undisputed lightweight title at UFC Freedom 250 last month. While Ilia was a massive favorite, Gaethje viciously piled on the damage in the third and fourth rounds.
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Despite showing immense grit to fight through Gaethje’s offense, Ilia was barely able to see at the end of the fourth round, prompting Aleksandre to force a stoppage before the fifth. Notably, the ringside doctor seemingly came close to stopping the bout at the end of the third round.
Trevor Wittman discusses Aleksandre Topuria’s decision to stop Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
Wittman lauds the concern that Aleksandre had for his brother. While some of the conversations in the Topuria corner were lost in translation, the veteran coach claims Ilia had made it clear that he couldn’t continue after a point. Wittman believes an athlete’s safety should be the primary concern of their cornerman, which was the case for Aleksandre.
He said on the ONX Sport podcast: “Ilia’s brother did the right thing to stop the fight. I didn’t hear what he said until I understood that language, where he was like, ‘We’re gonna finish the fight.’ He was talking to the ref, he wasn’t talking to Ilia. So I took it as, Ilia was like, ‘Dude I can’t go on.’ And when you hear that from your athlete, you have to make the right choice.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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