Now, it’s personal between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje before the UFC White House.
On Sunday, Topuria and Gaethje fight to unify the lightweight titles in the main event. In the build-up to the fight, Topuria has carried his trademark confidence-bordering-on-arrogance, even preemptively changing his Instagram handle to “18-0,” and promising a special white rose for Gaethje after he knocks him out.
For much of the build-up, Gaethje was focused on his own opportunity to score a historic win, but
the interim champion finally hit back at Topuria last week, calling him “an annoying little bastard,” and mocking Topuria’s recent divorce, saying he, too, would leave “El Matador.” And that seems to have riled Topuria up.
In the first episode of UFC Freedom 250 Embedded, Topuria responded to Gaethje by shooting him double birds and issuing a warning.
“Take this, Justin [shoots double birds],” Topuria said. “Actually, I thought he was a great guy. But since he crossed the personal line, he’s not going to have my respect; he’s not going to have my team’s respect.
“All I’m going to need is 2 minutes in the octagon with you, and I’m going to put you to sleep in front of your whole family, your country, in front of everyone.”
Topuria is a heavy favorite heading into the fight this week, with oddsmakers installing him as a nearly 7-to-1 favorite over Gaethje.
UFC White House takes place on Sunday, June 14, and also features an interim heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
