Ilia Topuria jokingly roasts Justin Gaethje’s dazed UFC 314 look during Joe Rogan Experience appearance
Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria recently appeared as a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) podcast. 'La Leyenda', who relinquished his 145-pound title in order to move up to lightweight, spoke about the possible match-ups he can have at 155 pounds.
One person Topuria might very well lock horns with is former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. With a strong chance of both fighting each other, Topuria took a dig at Gaethje.
During the podcast, Ilia Topuria made fun of how Gaethje looked while in attendance at UFC 314 in Miami last weekend, saying:
"Justin Gaethje, I think he sleeps more at day than at night."
When Rogan asked him if he thinks 'The Highlight' parties, Topuria said:
"I think so. They put the camera on him on the last pay-per-view and he looked like he was so high [laughs]."
Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below:
Ilia Topuria wants to have a Champions League-type of competition between MMA teams
One of the most interesting bits of the aforementioned JRE episode was when Joe Rogan and Ilia Topuria started talking about their ideal MMA world. Rogan believes there shouldn't be organizations, just the best fighters competing on the world stage. He compared this format to boxing, which has been doing it for generations.
Topuria then suggested another interesting route: MMA teams going against each other. This concept was a tried and failed idea by the International Fight League back in the mid-2000s. However, Topuria wants to use the territory-based format and bolster it just like in football's UEFA Champions League. He said:
"How they do like the Champions League. They have, like, for example, the Real Madrid. They have a team. That's why I would do, is create a team against another team. For example, I have Real Madrid. I sign like the best seven fighters in the world, whoever I want, in different weight classes."
He added:
"And you have, for example, Barcelona. You sign the seven best fighters in the world, you train them in one place, you do like all the strategy. And then we meet each other - we do a competition - like a Champions League."
Ilia Topuria also added that each team will have at least two to three fighters in the same weight class, to avoid fight cancellations once a fighter gets injured.
Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below (30:33):