Francis Ngannou’s coach breaking down Ilia Topuria’s fighting style draws jaw-dropping reaction from Alexander Volkanovski

Francis Ngannou's coach recently disclosed Alexander Volkanovski's jaw-dropping reaction to his breakdown of Ilia Topuria's fighting style. He noted that there is a similar pattern to how 'El Matador' finishes his opponents and highlighted how he is able to set up his combinations.

The reigning UFC featherweight champion has become one of the most popular fighters in the promotion since his rapid surge up the 145-pound rankings and back-to-back finishes of 'Volk' and Max Holloway.

Topuria defeated both via knockout, which resulted in the MMA community clamoring for a future bout against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

During the latest episode of Verse Us with Eric Nicksick, the MMA coach described how 'El Matador' has two different fighting styles. He said the featherweight champion fights a certain way in the center of the octagon, but then has a different style when he has his opponent toward the cage.

Nicksick mentioned that he discussed what he has seen from analyzing Topuria's finishes and recalled Volkanovski being surprised after hearing it:

"Topuria fights almost two styles of fights. There's one where he's in the center and there's one when he gets you on the corner post. And I said this forgetting like, [that] it was Volkanovski...'If you go back and watch all of Topuria's finishes, they all finish inside the black line or on a corner post...And Volkanovski's like, 'F*ck...Damn it, you're right'. But what I mean by that is he forces you to that choke point, that funnel and then his offense changes." [39:22]

Check out the full episode featuring Eric Nicksick's comments about Ilia Topuria below:

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Eric Nicksick believes Ilia Topuria can be successful competing at both featherweight and lightweight

In addition to describing Ilia Topuria's fighting styles, MMA coach Eric Nicksick heaped praise on 'El Matador' and said he can be successful competing in two weight classes.

During the aforementioned episode, Nicksick mentioned that Topuria should remain at 145 pounds for one more title defense. If Topuria retains, the 45-year-old would be interested in seeing him challenge lightweight champion Islam Makhachev:

"I feel like Topuria should have one more [fight] at [145 pounds] before he decides to make that jump up to [155 pounds] but dude, I think he can compete in both weight classes and be successful, I really do." [41:35]

Check out Ilia Topuria's reaction after knocking out Max Holloway below: