Joe Rogan raves about the UFC champion’s “incredible” hand speed in a viral video as the title fight draws closer

Joe Rogan raves about Ilia Topuria’s hand speed from a viral video

During his latest JRE podcast episode with Andrew Huberman, the conversation turned to the greatest boxers of all time and their behavior in sparring, with Rogan quick to point out that outstanding hand speed is certainly not limited to the ring.

“When you spar, you’re not just fighting, you’re downloading data points for a real fight,” Rogan explained, before mentioning the recent viral video from Ilia Topuria’s training camp.

“Ilia Topuria is one of the absolute best fighters in the world, he’s the current UFC featherweight champion and the guy is just fucking phenomenal.

“But one of the phenomenal things about him is his technique – his technique is so perfect, like there’s no fat, no wasted movement; so when the opportunity presents itself, everything happens so quickly because the technique is optimized.”

The video in question, posted on his YouTube channel, shows “El Matador” working with his trainer on the pads. The king of the featherweight shows off truly incredible hand speed, managing to throw five to six punches in a single second.

“See how he hits the cushions, and [Floyd] Mayweather is also a good example of this. Ilia has some of the best hands in the sport and is the current UFC champion who knocked out Volkanovski, who is perhaps the greatest of all time.

“See how he moves his head when the guy hits, he just dodges slightly, and the speed, man – that damn speed, look at that hand speed, damn incredible… When you know how difficult that is, and you can do it that fast – that’s about five, six punches per second.”

Topuria will need to keep his hands fit as he prepares to fight one of the best boxers on the entire UFC roster, Max “Blessed” Holloway, in the main event of UFC 308, scheduled for October 26.

“He just has a phenomenal technique, you see how those punches – they don’t even talk, when he throws the gloves on his head, there is no communication; he just sees the hand coming towards him and he ducks [underneath].”

Ilia Topuria already has his eye on his next featherweight title contender

Despite having one of the most dangerous fighters in the world in his sights at UFC 308, Ilia Topuria is already planning his next title defenses – with an up-and-coming challenger recently catching his attention.

That man is none other than 25-6 Brazilian Diego Lopes, who is scheduled to face third-ranked Brian Ortega at UFC 306 in a few weeks.

“I love Diego Lopes’ attitude,” Topuria told MMA Junkie earlier this week, adding, “He’s always respectful, I love the attitude he has towards me.”

“If he wins, he might be next in line… Honestly, I don’t know – maybe it’s [Alexander] Volkanovski, maybe it’s Diego Lopes, maybe it’s Brian Ortega, but I don’t care.

“It will be even worse for them when they get the call because then they will have to compete against me – it will be a difficult night for them.”

Lopes vs. Ortega is scheduled for September 14th at The Sphere, while Topuria vs. Holloway is scheduled for October 26th in Abu Dhabi.

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