Taking his stunning power to lightweight at UFC 317, Ilia Topuria has lost a huge sparring partner through his ability.
Making his return to 155lbs over the weekend, Topuria continued his roughshod run in recent title fights, this time a division higher.
Stopping the duo of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway with stunning KO wins in the last year, Topuria took on Charles Oliveira during International Fight Week.
And adding the vacant lightweight crown to his trophy cabinet, Topuria brutally stopped the Brazilian — as predicted, with a vicious knockout in the first round.
Putting all his opponents out in his last three outings, Topuria seems to be carrying his power to the cage from his training camps.
Ilia Topuria loses Merab Dvalishvili in sparring due to his devastating power
A fierce champion in his own bantamweight division, Georgian star, Dvalishvili has been a long-time training partner of Topuria — particularly during his rise in the UFC.
And following his recent departure from Climent Club, Topuria has now also lost a training partner in the form of Dvalishvili.
Remaining candid, Dvalishvili — who is unmatched in the Octagon, revealed he simply cannot deal with the stopping power of Topuria, who dropped him twice in recent sparring sessions.
“I can’t spar with him (Ilia Topuria) anymore, he hits too hard,” Dvalishvili told Uncrowned recently.
“He dropped me two times with a body shot. Thank God, my head is fine. Every time I finished sparring with him I was happy — I said ‘Thank God it’s over.'”
As evident with his KO win over Oliveira, Topuria has actually managed to top a prior hard hitter in the eyes of the Sao Paulo star himself.
Once tipping Justin Gaethje as the hardest hitter he’s ever faced in action, Oliveira will likely restudy that claim going forward.
Ilia Topuria becomes first to flatten Charles Oliveira in over 13 years
Surviving some shaky moments from the likes of Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Michael Chandler recently, fans and pundits admitted their worry for Oliveira off the back of his UFC 317 loss.
And to find a similar damaging finish the Brazilian was on the receiving end of, you have to go all the way back to 2012.
Sending the ex-lightweight champion reeling to the canvas, veteran stalwart, Cub Swanson would drop and stop Oliveira with a hellacious overhand right shot in the very first round, too.
Time will tell how long it takes the 35-year-old to recover from this latest setback. However, after Oliveira’s emotional Instagram post, it could be some time before he is back in the Octagon.