For all his talk, Ilia Topuria could barely walk after losing to Justin Gaethje via technical knockout within the predominant event of UFC Freedom 250 on the White House in Washington, DC on Sunday.
Gaethje won the lightweight belt in one in every of the largest upsets in recent memory. It was his first undisputed title after winning the interim belt in 2020.
Topuria’s corner threw within the towel within the fourth round because the brash fighter was being pummeled by Gaethje, who was the clear underdog entering the match. Topuria suffered his first loss in 18 fights.
After Topuria’s defeat, Terence Crawford relished roasting the Georgian-Spanish warrior.
“This the guy that said he would knock me out and whoop me and Shakur (Stevenson) at the identical time?” asked Crawford, who retired from boxing in December.
Last 12 months, the 29-year-old Topuria called out the 38-year-old Crawford, difficult him to a bout. Crawford, nevertheless, simply brushed it off, adding that Topuria was just “chasing clout.” The five-division world champion also called Topuria “fake.”
“If I do not like any individual, if I need to fight them for whatever reason, I might’ve been like, ‘Hey, what’s up, man? What do you concentrate on me and also you fighting?’ I’m not going to go hide behind the keyboard and things like that,” said Crawford, who got here out of retirement to beat Canelo Alvarez, on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
Last month, Topuria turned his attention to Stevenson. The 2-time champion said he desired to fight Stevenson because “he talks an excessive amount of,” adding that he can hold his own against the world’s top boxers.
The 28-year-old Stevenson, who holds the WBO super lightweight belt, swiftly clapped back on X, saying, “I might beat the s*** out of you.”
Topuria needed to be helped out of the Octagon by his brother and carted off to the locker room after losing to Gaethje.
Gaethje improved to 28-5-0, including 21 wins via knockout.
For all his talk, Ilia Topuria could barely walk after losing to Justin Gaethje via technical knockout within the predominant event of UFC Freedom 250 on the White House in Washington, DC on Sunday. Gaethje won the lightweight belt in one in every of the largest upsets in recent memory. It was his first undisputed title after winning the interim belt in 2020.