UFC star Ilia Topuria showed off his power by leaving a fan in agonising pain after punching him in the stomach.
Topuria, 26, met with fans in Spain recently to sign autographs but one man had a unique request as he wanted to take a body shot from the unbeaten fighter. After signing a pair of gloves for the fan, Topuria happily obliged to punch him in the liver and he almost knocked the fan over by landing the blow. The fan then walks away in pain and doubles over thanks to the excruciating blow.
Fans have since weighed in on the video with one user commenting: "He disrupted his anticipation so he couldn't tense up and make it hurt more haha, that is evil." Another added: If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough" with a third comment reading: "He couldn't put that glove on fast enough!" A final user was stunned by Topuria's power, adding: "He did that with a full suit, no warm up and probably like 40 50 per cent force. Liver shots are DEADLY."
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Topuria was signed to the UFC in 2020 and has since won four consecutive fights, three of which have come by stoppage. 'El Matador' has switched between featherweight and lightweight during his UFC run, but his title aspirations are at 145lb for now as he will face former interim title challenger Josh Emmett in June.
UFC fans have been calling for a fight between Topuria and Paddy Pimblett ever since the rivals clashed before their respective fights in London last March. Bumping into each other at the fighter hotel, Topuria scuffled with Pimblett which led to the Scouser throwing a bottle of hand sanitiser at him. Topuria has claimed the UFC has never offered him a contract to fight Pimblett.
"They have never offered me the fight, but I know that it’s going to happen in the future," Topuria told Mirror Fighting. "Right now, I don’t give a f*** about him. I’m focused on myself and my next fight. If I’m going to have to fight Paddy next, more than welcome. I don’t think much about him, so I don’t know if the UFC is protecting him or not."
It's unlikely a fight between Topuria and Pimblett will be made anytime soon as 'The Baddy' is sidelined until at least the end of the year after recently undergoing ankle surgery. Pimblett could even be forced to sit out for the entirety of 2023 as his injury was worse than he originally expected.
