Josh Emmett scheduled to face Ilia Topuria at UFC Fight Night 227
It appears UFC featherweight contenders Josh Emmett (18-3, no. 5) and Ilia Topuria (13-0, no. 9) have their next match ups lined up, as they’re slated to face one another at UFC Fight Night 227.
UFC FN 227 is to go down on June 17, 2023, live from a to-be-determined venue and location.
Josh Emmett is coming off his submission (triangle choke) defeat to interim champion Yair Rodriguez earlier this year at UFC 284, a fight he was on a five-fight win streak going into.
Many believed he deserved to face undisputed champion Alexander Volkanovski, given the fact he was coming off wins over Michael Johnson (KO), Mirsad Bektic (TKO), Shane Burgos (UD), Dan Ige (UD), and Calvin Kattar (SD).
Nonetheless, after a rough outing against Rodriguez, where he was unable to get inside the Mexican’s range due to the vicious body kicks he was enduring, he now faces an undefeated finisher in his next outing.
Ilia Topuria has been nothing short of astounding thus far into his 13-fight MMA career.
The Spanish Topuria made his UFC debut in October of 2020, winning the fight via unanimous decision, a fight he nearly finished numerous times.
But he finished his first eight opponents leading up to his promotional debut, and he’s finished all four of his opponents following, showing him victorious over the likes of Damon Jackson (KO), Ryan Hall (KO), Jai Herbert (KO) in a lightweight bout, and most recently fellow undefeated Bryce Mitchell (arm-triangle choke), who was 15-0 (6-0 UFC) going into their affair.
Topuria won his first seven bouts via submission, being a high-level black belt in BJJ, and over his next five outings, four of those victories came via KO. He hadn’t secured a submission victory in over three years going into his fight with Mitchell, and he handily beat Mitchell down on the feet en route to his submission win over a true stud on the ground.
Emmett is pound-for-pound one of the heaviest hitters in the sport, and he has incredible footwork as well; he’s very good as switching stances while striking, and he’s very good at landing hard punches in the middle of those stance switches. He also has some good leg kicks to go along with it, and he’s a solid wrestler.
But many people are sensing this may be the end for him, given he’s 38-years-old.
26-year-old Topuria on the other hand is also a very heavy-handed boxer with good footwork; he’s very good at getting into range to land those heavy punches, and his overall grappling, offensively and defensively, is just stunning to watch.
Who walks away from this featherweight bout going down at UFC FN 227 the victor?
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