Ilia Topuria will defend his UFC lightweight title in the coming days against interim titleholder Justin Gaethje at the White House in the coming days and someone interwoven within that UFC 155-pound title lineage has weighed in on the bout. Topuria versus Gaethje is a title unification contest that tops the marquee at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14th.
The former UFC divisional kingpin being referenced is Benson Henderson, who broke down the machinations of that matchup when preparing for his own MMA return headlining the recent PFL Brussels card. Expounding upon his thoughts related to Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje, Henderson said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Topuria and Gaethje, I think it’ll be a fun fight to watch. I think they’re going to hit each other a lot. I think they’re going to stand there and hit each other until one of them falls. So it’ll be a fun fight to watch. Hopefully they’re able to mix it up and hopefully we see; I love watching fights where you see the whole gamut of mixed martial arts. I want to see guys doing some wrestling. I want to see guys doing some jiu-jitsu. I want to see them some doing some Judo.”
Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje will hopefully show all of their MMA tools, per Bendo’s wish
Further delving into his thoughts on Topuria versus Gaethje as a microcosm for what he ultimately enjoys from high-level MMA, Henderson continued [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Like I want to see mixed martial arts. Guys standing there and just swinging till one of them falls. Like that’s entertaining. Some people really like that, you know. That’s that form of entertainment they really like. But for me, the type of person I am, what I like to watch, I want to see the full gamut of of mixed martial arts.”
“Hopefully with Ilia and and Justin, they’re able to actually get to the ground a little bit, do some high level wrestling, do some amazing transitions from wrestling to jiu-jitsu, from jiu-jitsu to standing back up, getting on their feet again. Doing a lot of good kicks and knees and elbows, just everything.”
