Ilia Topuria remains undefeated, batters and nearly stops Josh Emmett in UFC on ABC 5 main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, June 24, 2023, for UFC on ABC 5, going down live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Headlining the event was an epic clash of featherweight contenders where no. 5 ranked Josh Emmett (18-4) collided with no. 9 ranked Ilia Topuria (14-0) in the main event of the evening.
Emmett came into tonight’s main event having lost his interim title bout to Yair Rodriguez earlier this year in February, a fight he went into on a five-fight win streak. Topuria on the other hand came in having most recently defeated Bryce Mitchell last December, which improved his promotional record to 5-0.
Continue reading to see how this epic featherweight main event went down:
Official Result: Ilia Topuria def. Josh Emmett via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-42, 49-45)
Emmett opens up the bout quite active with his boxing, though Topuria makes him miss nearly every punch he throws. Topuria controls the center of the octagon through the final four minutes of the opening round, is utilizing heavy-handed boxing of his own, and begins to land some good leg kicks in the final 90 or so seconds of the first.
Topuria starts to take the fight over in the second, dropping Emmett and hurting him badly later on in the round.
Topuria continues to batter Emmett throughout the third round, busting his face up pretty badly.
Emmett is still in the fight though, he’s still returning with heavy leather and landing some good punches here and there. Topuria now goes into the first round four of his career.
Topuria buckles Emmett’s leg in the fourth with another heavy leg kick, and later drops him with a beautifully timed and placed left hook.
Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett put on an AMAZING FIGHT 😤
Ilia Topuria 🇬🇪🇪🇸 displayed a masterful performance and we could be looking at a future UFC featherweight champion 👀
EL MATADOR HAS ARRIVED 🐃#UFCJacksonville https://t.co/12OF4XLd6B
— COMBAT SPORTS TODAY (@CSTodayNews) June 24, 2023
From here Topuria absolutely beat Emmett down, nearly securing a finish, and ending the fourth round in mount.
Emmett stuns Topuria early on in the fifth and final round; he was biting down and throwing heavy, but Topuria does a good job of not allowing him to land more after it and gets back to dictating the distance with his jab, counter hooks, and leg kicks.
With about two minutes left on the clock Topuria takes Emmett down and mauls him for the remainder of the fight.
Ilia Topuria remains undefeated by putting on a true masterclass performance at UFC on ABC 5.
This was his first ever five round fight and he didn’t slow down at all. This was his first time fighting a top five guy, and he won every round against him. At just 26 years of age, following this fight Topuria remains a highly touted contender that many peg to become world champion in the not so distant future.
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