“With the big gloves!” Gilbert Burns reveals story of Ilia Topuria knocking out 3 of his teammates at Kill Cliff FC

Discover how Ilia Topuria's astonishing knockout power during training sessions at Kill Cliff FC predicted his future UFC championship success.

“With the big gloves!” Gilbert Burns reveals story of Ilia Topuria knocking out 3 of his teammates at Kill Cliff FC

Gilbert Burns reveals impressive story about Ilia Topuria (Image via: IMAGO)

Gilbert Burns trains out of Kill Cliff FC in Florida, where top-level talent is abundant. Michael Chandler, Jason Jackson, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Rafael Fiziev, among others, train under Henri Hooft at Kill Cliff. Current UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has also trained at the gym.

Burns revealed an interesting story about Topuria’s time at the gym in his recent interview with Luke Thomas of Morning Kombat. Topuria was at Kill Cliff to train for his fight with Josh Emmett, which headlined UFC on ABC 5. 

He (Ilia Topuria) knocked out three of my teammates, not down, out, with the big gloves. With the big gloves. I'm gonna say that one more time: with the big gloves.
Gilbert Burns via Morning Kombat
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Burns revealed the story by stating that Topuria’s victory over Alexander Volkanovski did not surprise him, even though he was an underdog. He had already predicted a UFC title glory Topuria after the training incident. Moreover, Burns had already predicted Topuria to win the title on his appearance on Michael Bisping‘s podcast.

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Burns has not fought since he lost via unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad at UFC 288. He suffered an injury in the fight that limited his offense. His upcoming fight is against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299, the upcoming PPV headlined by Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera.

Gilbert Burns was amazed by the wrestling prowess of Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria had already called out the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev after his title triumph at UFC 298. Many found the callout unnecessary as they felt that Topuria would be at a big disadvantage. However, Gilbert Burns is not one of them.

Gilbert Burns on Ilia Topuria's wrestling prowess
Gilbert Burns on Ilia Topuria’s wrestling prowess (Image via: IMAGO)

Burns had first-hand information about the prowess of Topuria when he trained there. Despite his small stature and short height, Burns found Topuria to be a solid guy. Moreover, Topuria even surprised Burns at wrestling practice, where he easily took down a strong fighter from Dagestan. The training session Topuria had in Floride before his fight with Josh Emmett opened the eyes of Burns, who felt that Topuria would become champion.

Burns’ prediction indeed came true as Topuria became the first and only fighter to defeat Volkanovski at featherweight. The victory has made Topuria a big sensation in Spain, where he recently became a citizen. Moreover, he also got a luxurious Aston Martin DB 13 as a gift and even got the chance to present his belt at the Santiago Bernabeu.

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