John McCarthy Warns Ilia Topuria of ‘Problem’ in Making Risky Move Before UFC 317 Charles Oliveira Fight

Fans might be wondering what Ilia Topuria is up to because he’s made a significant decision that could impact his MMA career. The former featherweight shocked the community when he decided to part ways with his longtime gym, Climent Club, and that too, ahead of the biggest fight of his career at UFC 317. As he prepares to square off against Charles Oliveira, veteran referee John McCarthy shared a concerning reality behind ‘El Matador’s decision.

Apart from Climent Club, with brothers Jorge and Augustin as head coaches who trained Ilia Topuria, the former champion’s brother has also been training him since 2015. John McCarthy claims that leaving the Alicante-based gym doesn’t mean that the Georgian-Spaniard is losing all of its connections with it. He also understands Topuria’s point of view when it comes to bringing new people in ahead of his big-time title fight against Charles Oliveira.

“When you take a look at this just in that perspective of he’s leaving his gym, it is something. But you gotta look and say his brother is one of his coaches. His brother is always going to be with him. So, he’s not losing all of his coaches. He’s not losing out all of his gym,” John McCarthy stated on the ‘Weighing In’ podcast. “He’s taking the people that are important for his training and make it to where he’s comfortable with. He’s going to bring specific people for the standup and his boxing and everything like that.”

However, the veteran MMA referee senses some issues popping up for Ilia Topuria since he’s decided to change his gym. He’s only got just over a month’s time to go for the title fight. So, adjusting to a new coach could be difficult since it takes time. But that’s not the issue that McCarthy pointed out. He claims that the thought of departing from his old gym, and what led to it, could act as a “distraction” ahead of his lightweight title fight.

“Do I think it’s a problem? I always think it’s a problem when you’re leaving a place, based upon what caused that problem… What has changed between either you and the gym and the coach, or what’s going on? Because there’s something going on, and that’s something that, when you look at it, there’s that distraction. That’s not good,” John McCarthy added.

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Well, Ilia Topuria needs to adjust to his new coaches and trainers fast and remove all those distractions about departing from his old gym. That’s especially because Charles Oliveira wants to prove a point when they butt heads on June 28. Here’s what the former lightweight champion had to say.

Charles Oliveira wants a KO win over Ilia Topuria

Charles Oliveira’s journey in the UFC has been nothing short of inspirational because he had a really hard time during the initial stages of his UFC run. But he recovered well and went on to become the fighter with the most finishes in the UFC. Now, he is aiming to add to his tally of 20 finishes when he squares off against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317. While he lauded ‘El Matador’, ‘Do Bronxs’ also warned him about what he’s capable of in a fight.

“It’s a great fight, he’s a great fighter. But I don’t need to prove anything to anyone about who I am. This fight came at a huge opportunity. I will knock out this guy. That’s for real,” Charles Oliveira told Yahoo Sports. He’s been waiting for a title shot for a while now and wants to make sure he wins the title in a memorable fashion, which, of course, is by knocking Ilia Topuria out.

Well, everything will come down to June 28 when we’ll find out if leaving his old gym was the right decision by Ilia Topuria or not. After all, Dana White appears to have kept the promise he made to the former featherweight champion and placed him in a title fight after he vacated his 145lbs title. Let us know how you think the fight pans out at UFC 317 in the comments below.

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