"Third round he gassed out"- UFC featherweight who pushed Ilia Topuria to his first decision win details fresh insights from their clash

Ilia Topuria has been a force to reckon with since making his UFC debut back in 2020. The Spaniard has been a sensation for the company, he is great on the mic and devastating in the octagon.

Topuria has had eight fights in the UFC and has won six of them through violent finishes. He has been taken to the judges just twice in the octagon and one of those times was on his debut.

El Matador fought Youssef Zalal on UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs Sandhagen in Abu Dhabi. Topuria won the fight via unanimous decision but lost the third round to Zalal on all three judges' scorecards.

Zalal speaking on the JAXXON PODCAST revealed that Topuria gassed out in the third round. The Moroccan Devil said:

"The third round he just gassed out, I f**ked him up in the third round. I won the third round but the second round bro is like I wish I would have went a little bit more but I was the first guy to ever take him to a decision and that was his first fight in the UFC, after that he went on a tear. He like literally knocked out everybody and then Josh Emmett, he 10-7’d Josh Emmett in a round, I was like come on bro and I got kicked out of the UFC after that, after this fight I was on a three fight losing streak and then a draw and then they kicked me out."

Check out Zalal's comments on his fight with Topuria (27:07):

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Ilia Topuria says his next move won't involve vacating featherweight title

Ilia Topuria who won the featherweight title by brutally knocking out Alexander Volkanovski earlier this year, has said that he won't be vacating the featherweight title.

Topuria who defended his title in October by becoming the first person to knock out Max Holloway was teasing about moving up to lightweight. El Matador believed there was no challenge left for him at featherweight and there were rumours about him potentially vacating his crown.

Putting the rumors to bed, Topuria took to X and wrote:

"I will not leave the title vacant. The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven't had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and I will do the same in the next one."