Josh Emmett will lock horns with Ilia Topuria in a featherweight main event at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night in Florida on Sunday.
Emmett, 38, who is ranked No. 7 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, is heading into the weekend’s fight on the back of an interim title fight loss to Yair Rodriguez this past February.
A huge challenge awaits the American as Topuria enters the matchup with a spotless 13-0 record, including five straight victories in the UFC and stoppages in each of his previous four triumphs.
The 26-year-old Georgian made his professional debut in the autumn of 2020, defeating Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision. Since then, he has defeated Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, Jai Herbert (at lightweight), and Bryce Mitchell without the judges being involved.
Meanwhile, the veteran Octagon fighter from California has gotten the better of big shots like Shane Burgos, Dan Ige, and Calvin Kattar with ease. Emmett is currently attempting to add Topuria, a rising contender, to his resume with a statement performance.
Ahead of the main event fight against Topuria, Emmett sat down with Sportstar for an exclusive interaction…
Q. You’re the more experienced fighter going into the fight. Do you think that will give you an edge over Topuria?
Yeah, 100 per cent. As you said I’m the more experienced fighter. I’ve been in there with nothing but killers. And that will put me in an advantageous position on Saturday’s fight.
Q. Topuria is unbeaten in his professional career, including a five-fight winning streak. Your thoughts on him?
I think Topuria is a good fighter. He’s well-rounded but he hasn’t faced anyone like me. I’m a different type of fighter. I’m willing to go through anything to get my hand raised and he’s going to know fast, once I get in there and hit him, he’s going to realise that he’s never experienced anything like it so far.
Q. A win this weekend would put you back into title contention. Does that add pressure to your preparation?
There’s no added stress on my end. I’m solely focused on my abilities. I and my coaches are working hard to be good this weekend, so we’re concentrating only on beating Topuria. Make a statement and I’ll be right back in the mix and get closer to my ultimate dream which is to be the world champion. But I have to go out there and put him (Topuria) away first. I don’t think much about that loss against Rodriguez (interim featherweight title fight). It just wasn’t my night but June 24 will be my night.
Q. Before professional fighting, you were a CrossFit trainer. Was it always your plan to get into the UFC?
Yes, getting into fighting as a profession was always my plan. I opened a gym in Sacramento in 2005 that had one of the best cages for the lightweight division. I was a big fan of MMA and had always dreamed of getting into the UFC. So, I went to college and wrestled for three years, got my degree and came back to my hometown in 2010 and picked up where I left off. The reason I took up a Crossfit coach job was to make time for my fighting classes. Took me a long time to get into UFC and it was all worth it.
Q. You were a lightweight fighter when you entered UFC but have transitioned into the featherweight division. How and why did that happen?
I was fighting in the regional circuit in the lightweight division, I was a champion there, was undefeated and I knew that a UFC call-up was right around the corner. And eventually, I got that opportunity to fight in a Fight Night event. I was undefeated in my first two lightweight bouts but when I suffered my first loss, that’s when I decided to shift divisions. That wasn’t a sudden decision, I always wanted to do that but since I was unbeaten, I said to myself ‘Why fix something when it’s not broken’ and I continued. Just in my third featherweight fight, I leapfrogged in the ranking table and went up to the third spot and ever since I’ve stayed at the top.
Watch the LIVE coverage of UFC Fight Night - Emmett vs Topuria on Sony Sports Ten 2 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 12:30 am IST on 25th June 2023
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