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Renowned MMA coach Javier Mendez believes there’s a glaring weakness in Ilia Topuria’s game. ‘El Matador’ has enjoyed a perfect start to his MMA career, winning 17 consecutive fights and claiming UFC titles in two different divisions. The former featherweight king and current lightweight champion hopes he’ll get the chance to make history by winning a third title at welterweight – but first Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev will battle for that belt at UFC 322 on November 15. Javier Mendez appears to have already started studying Ilia Topuria ahead of a potential fight with his star pupil. Javier Mendez breaks down Ilia Topuria Javier Mendez was recently asked how he would train a fighter to beat Ilia Topuria. “I would say with him, stay out of boxing range, 1 million percent,” he told the Know Time podcast. “He’s got the best boxing in the business in MMA. He even thinks he can beat [Terence] Crawford, that’s how confident he is in his boxing. “Your big task is to keep him away from you. And he’s got decent wrestling. From people I’ve spoken to who have trained with him, he’s got decent jiu jitsu also.” The man who previously coached Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, and Luke Rockhold to UFC glory, went on to reveal the only flaw he’s been able to find in Topuria’s game. Mendez added: So, he’s almost the complete package, but he’s not, he lacks in the kicking area. “The weakest link on him would be the kicking area, and then you have to test your grappling with him to see if yours is better than his. We’ve yet to see how great it is. It’s not great, but we’ve yet to see how good it is.” Ilia Topuria’s UFC 322 warning Ilia Topuria vs Islam Makhachev is arguably the biggest fight that can be made in MMA. It could completely fall apart if Jack Della Maddalena can pull off the upset at UFC 322 next month. Topuria has already told Makhachev their UFC superfight will be off if he fails to capture the 170lb strap. “If Islam loses, he can return back to Dagestan, to his farm, and continue herding sheep,” Topuria said at a recent press conference in Georgia. “If he wins, I will definitely rise. Definitely, 100 percent.”
