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Aleksandre Topuria (R) assists his brother, Georgia's Ilia Topuria (C), as they leave after losing the lightweight title bout against US fighter Justin Gaethje during the "UFC Freedom 250" mixed martial arts event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, early morning on June 15, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Merab Dvalishvili believes his fellow Georgian fighter Ilia Topuria will return stronger and better than ever.
Dvalishvili and Topuria are going through similar situations, having gone from seemingly invincible to both losing their belts in their last fight. Dvalishvili lost a clear decision to Petr Yan in December, while Topuria got into a car wreck with Justin Gaethje that left him with two broken orbitals and a broken nose.
In a new interview with MMA Fighting, “The Machine” discussed the Topuria loss and what went wrong for Ilia in the cage.
“[The] fight was really tough,” Dvalishvili said. “Unfortunately, Ilia was fighting blind since the first round. I think one moment Justin Gaethje threw a punch [with his thumb extended], I think he eye poked him. It was even worse and then Ilia [was] blind in both eyes. He [wanted] to keep fighting.”
“When you got eye poked or you broke this [orbital] bone, you are blind pretty much. That affects the fight. That was the main thing. Ilia was fighting blind. That’s what Ilia said.”
There’s been footage floating around recently showing Gaethje throwing a punch and catching Topuria in the eye with a thumb. A similar thumb-poke landed against Paddy Pimblett in his last fight too, making some fans question whether Gaethje was doing it on purpose.
“I have very big confidence [that] Ilia is not only going to come back, he will come back even stronger,” Dvalishvili said. “He will come so motivated. He’s special. Like I said, it was a couple of things. He got eye poked and he got a [broken] bone in his nose, I believe. Then that affects his fight.”
“Now, he will come back and he will win his belt back and he will continue his winning streak again.”
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