JRE MMA Show #166 with Ilia Topuria

Joe Rogan (0:01)

Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out!

Ilia Topuria (0:03)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan (0:06)

Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day!

SPEAKER_3 (0:12)

Alright, bro, my man.

Ilia Topuria (0:13)

What's happening? Pleasure.

SPEAKER_3 (0:15)

No, please, my pleasure.

Ilia Topuria (0:16)

Thank you very much for having me here. My honor.

I'm very excited about this new thing you're doing. I'm very excited about your journey into the lightweight division.

SPEAKER_3 (0:26)

Something that I felt very excited also about that.

Ilia Topuria (0:29)

What are you walking around at? Like, what do you walk around at when you were fighting at 45?

SPEAKER_3 (0:33)

I'm going to tell you in kilos.

Ilia Topuria (0:35)

Okay.

SPEAKER_3 (0:36)

I walk around 80, 82

Ilia Topuria (0:39)

What is that, Jamie? Like 160, 170? 175?

SPEAKER_3 (0:43)

180

Ilia Topuria (0:43)

180? Okay, so you were losing quite a bit of weight. 35 pounds?

SPEAKER_3 (0:47)

25, 30 pounds.

Ilia Topuria (0:48)

Like, oof.

SPEAKER_3 (0:49)

Yeah, that's how hard. That was the hardest part of the fight game for me. I wasn't enjoying all the last couple of fights that I had, because it's like, I had to become more professional in the weight cut than in a fight game, you know? And it was taking a lot of time and energy from me, and I'm like, my dream is to become a world champion. I want to end up this chapter that I have, that I started in 145, and now it's time to really enjoy it, and I'm very excited about that. I already have one fight in 155

Ilia Topuria (1:24)

Jai Herbert.

SPEAKER_3 (1:25)

Jai Herbert.

Ilia Topuria (1:26)

I really wish the UFC would eliminate weight cutting. I really wish there was a way.

SPEAKER_3 (1:31)

Why do you allow to do that?

Ilia Topuria (1:32)

I don't. It's sanctioned cheating that everybody has to do. It's like you're, you know, I mean, if you're saying you're 180 pounds, you're not really 145, right? So it's crazy that you're the 145 pound champion, but you're 180 pound man. It's kind of nuts.

SPEAKER_3 (1:47)

Yeah. But at the same time, if you go to the next weight class, you are playing with the disadvantage because the guy in the next division is cutting a lot of weight. So if you don't do that, at the end of the day, you walk inside the octagon and you are the smaller guy.

Ilia Topuria (2:01)

Yeah, like Islam. Islam Akhachev is huge. I mean, that guy, how he makes 155 is... I don't understand it. Every time I stand next to him, like, how are you 155?

SPEAKER_3 (2:11)

How much do you think he walks around?

Ilia Topuria (2:13)

He's got to be 190-ish in the 190 range. He's got to be. That's what he looks like to me.

SPEAKER_3 (2:18)

I never saw him in a person.

Ilia Topuria (2:20)

Yeah, he's thick. He's thick and big. I mean, he's not a small... He's not a 155-pound man. It's just so silly. The whole thing is just...

It's an old thing that we kept for no reason. And I feel like they should blow all the weight classes. I've talked to Dana about this. I actually talked to Ari Emanuel about this when they first bought the UFC. I said, the first thing you should do is get rid of this. Get rid of the weight cutting and just add a bunch of weight classes. Because some of the weight class gaps, like the gap between 70 and 85, and then 85 and 205, they're too big. The gaps are too big. 20 pounds is nuts.

SPEAKER_3 (2:57)

I would do something with the drag test. Like if I go to your home to make the drag test, I put you in the scale. If you walk around like 8% or 10% over your weight, I would obligate you to go in the next weight class. Just to give you an example. For example, if you're fighting 100 kilograms, I'm going to say 10 kilograms, and I go to your house, I do the drag test, I put you in the scale, and you weigh this 110 kilograms, I would force you to go to the next weight class.

Ilia Topuria (3:28)

Yeah. I think that's realistic. That makes sense. And I think that they should have more weight classes. Because the weight class gaps are just too large.

SPEAKER_3 (3:36)

Or maybe that's an option also.

Ilia Topuria (3:37)

Yeah. I mean, at the lower weight classes, it's 10 pounds, which seems reasonable. But really, at the lower weight classes, you know, when you're like 125 and 135, it could easily be 5 pounds. 5 pounds is reasonable. But Dana doesn't want like 12 weight classes or 15, 20 weight classes like boxing has. He wants it to be like the UFC has now. But it's not enough. There's just not enough.