Aleksandre Topuria, with a record of 5-1, is set to make his debut in the UFC. His first fight will be against Colby Thicknesse, who has a record of 7-0, and it will take place on a Saturday night to Sunday morning in Sydney at around 2:00 am. This fight will be the first of the preliminary matches and can be viewed on ‘Max’. Meanwhile, Topuria has been undergoing a lengthy preparation that has been months in the making.
This preparation entered its final phase on January 20, when Topuria arrived in Australia with his team. Shortly after confirming the fight against Thicknesse, Ilia Topuria, Aleksandre’s brother with a record of 16-0, joined the training camp to support his sibling. In a video posted on social media by the Spanish UFC account, Aleksandre is seen saying “These gloves are mine,” as he trains and struggles to make the 61.2 kilo weight limit for his debut in the Gallo Weight Division.
In Sydney, Topuria is surrounded by his closest team members, including his brother Ilia, Guram Kutateladze, a Georgian UFC fighter, and the Climent brothers. In the coming days, Merab Dvalishvili, the UFC rooster champion and a close friend of the Topuria brothers, is expected to arrive and join the team. With a strong support system in place, Topuria is ready to put his skills to the test in his highly anticipated UFC debut.