In a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show #166, UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria shared insights into his victory over Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Ryan Hall, a man many considered a puzzling and challenging opponent.
“When I dominated Ryan Hall like that, it opened up a lot of people’s eyes,” Topuria explained. “He was this weird puzzle, this elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who would do strange things like turn his back to people and attempt imanari rolls.”
Hall had built a reputation as a unique challenge in the UFC, famously heel-hooking UFC legend BJ Penn in the first round of their fight. His unorthodox approach and elite ground game made him someone many fighters wanted to avoid.
Topuria approached the fight with complete confidence in his well-rounded skill set.
“People think when they see a guy who can strike like I do, they forget about the ground game. They forget that my ground game is very elite too, which is really interesting.”
The Georgian-Spanish star revealed that his background in wrestling and jiu-jitsu gave him the confidence to deal with Hall‘s unusual approach.
“I started with judo at four years old with my brother. Then we went to Georgia and kept practicing with Garmon wrestling, before moving to Spain when I was 15.”
This comprehensive martial arts background allowed Topuria to remain unfazed by Hall‘s ground threats.
“When people see Ryan’s style, they get nervous about his leg locks and submissions. I knew that if I stayed composed and technical, I could neutralize his strengths.”
Topuria‘s game plan involved pressuring Hall and not allowing him space to set up his unorthodox entries.
“I didn’t want to give him any space to roll or create those weird positions he’s known for. I wanted to be the one dictating where the fight took place.”
The strategy worked perfectly as Topuria controlled the action before landing the finishing sequence that put Hall‘s lights out.
“I put his lights out because I was prepared for everything he could do. When you have a comprehensive game like mine, there’s nowhere for specialists to hide.”
Rogan acknowledged the impressiveness of Topuria‘s performance, noting:
“When you dominated him like that and then put his lights out, I was like, ‘Wow.’ Because people think when people see a guy who can strike like you do, they kind of forget about the ground game.”
Topuria emphasized that his approach to fighting is about complete development across all disciplines.
“I try to develop my skills in every discipline. I don’t train MMA all the time – I do boxing classes, wrestling classes. I try to learn every discipline separately, so when the training camp comes, I can mix it up and polish everything.”
This comprehensive approach is what Topuria believes sets him apart from specialists and allows him to solve any puzzle in the octagon, including the challenging riddle that was Ryan Hall.
an Hall.
Ilia Topuria vs Ryan Hall felt like an MMA fever dream pic.twitter.com/Ki2Ztil6Ox
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) October 11, 2024
