Ilia Topuria's older brother, Aleksandre, will be making his promotional debut at UFC 312 when he faces off against Colby Thicknesse. With 'El Matador' having surged his way through the featherweight division en route to the title, there is major anticipation surrouding 'El Conquistador's' debut.
The 29-year old currently competes in the bantamweight division and will be going up against the "younger brother" of Alexander Volkanovski on Feb. 8. Thicknesse has trained with 'The Great' since 2013 and has been described as his main training partner at Freestyle MMA in Australia.
Both Topuria brothers are in Sydney, Australia, as the featherweight champion will be cornering the UFC debutant against Thicknesse. A fascinating addition to the matchup is that Volkanovski will be in Thicknesse's corner
Merab Dvalishvili is currently also in Australia to support the Topuria brothers. All three fighters are of Georgian descent and have shared immense praise for one another in the past.
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During a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Aleksandre Topuria was asked if he would ever entertain a fight against Dvalishvili. He said this:
"For sure no."
He added:
"I understand everything. I understand this is the UFC, I understand the talk about stuff like this makes the promoters a little bit angry... But I am 100% sure we are gonna fight another fighter."
Catch Ilia Topuria's brother, Aleksandre, discuss Merab Dvalishvili below (12:00):
All the pressure is on Ilia Topuria at UFC 312 according to his brother Aleksandre
UFC 312 will see the debut of Aleksandre Topuria, who currently holds a 5-1 record in MMA. As the older brother of featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, there is an assumption that 'El Conquistador' will be under immense pressure when he steps into the octagon for the first time.
However, the 29-year old stated that all of the pressure would be on 'El Matador' at UFC 312 and not on himself. During his aforementioned interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Topuria explained why, saying:
"I don't feel any pressure... You know where I feel pressure? I feel pressure when I have to stay with [Ilia Topuria] and show him the correct things he has to do inside the cage... Right now, he's feeling pressure. I don't feel any pressure. I have to go inside the cage and enjoy fighting... When he goes inside [the cage] and I stay outside, I feel pressure because I can't do anything." [13:10-15:12 in Aleksandre Topuria's interview]