Ilia Topuria and his brother Aleksandre’s MMA journey began with the Climent brothers, Jorge and Agustin. It was under the brothers that the Topuria siblings won their Black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Unfortunately, just over a month before Topuria’s lightweight title bout against Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, they have decided to part ways.
Coach Jorge Climent Explains Split With Ilia Topuria and His Brother
Amid rumors of the split, Jorge Climent broke his silence in his recent interview with Submission Radio’s Denis Shkuratov. “Yes. [It] is the real, is real,” Climent replied when asked about the split.
The 49-year-old shared that Topuria has completely shifted his training camp to Madrid, where he has a gym in his home. Meanwhile, Climent and his brother will be busy with their gym and fighters in Calle Burgos.
“We decide, like gentlemen, you know, have our own way,” Climent said about the split. When asked whether they would work with Topuria in the future, he replied, “We don’t work anymore together. He go in his own and we in our.”
The coach explained that even though it is sad that they split, he doesn’t hold any ill will. Topuria wanted to spread his wings and fly, but they have no qualms about it.
“We decided, like the last week, we go all together, we talk about it, and we decided,” Climent disclosed when they split. The 49-year-old admitted that he and his brother consider Topuria brothers like sons, and will be hearing on for success.
Despite fans speculating that the split will affect Topuria’s performance, Climent is confident that “El Matador” could get the job done against Oliveira.
“I think it’s going to be in the way of knockout,” Climent predicted the fight. “I think Charlie’s going to try to cross with him, but in the end he’s going to try to do Jiu-Jitsu, because always you do what you real have inside. And I think Ilia have a very good takedown defense, and his power is out of discussion.”
Climent shared that he likes how Oliveira fights and is a fan, but pointed out that Topuria would be too good for “Do Bronx.” He also expressed interest in seeing a welterweight bout with Islam Makhachev and Topuria.
The 28-year-old wanted to fight Makhachev for the title but vacated, moving up to welterweight to fight Jack Della Maddalena. Climent wants Makhachev to win that fight. Interestingly, he doesn’t think Topuria will be at a disadvantage if he fights Makhachev at welterweight.
“I think Ilia is going to be better if he don’t need to cut way, and he can do it great. He’s maybe not so tall, but he’s a very powerful muscleman,” Climent said.
Without the Climent brothers, Topuria’s team will consist of his brother Aleksandr, Jesus Gallo, the Ribeiro brothers, and Javi Climent, unrelated to Jorge and Augustin. Despite the former coach’s confidence, whether Topuria holds his own without them at UFC 317 remains to be seen.