Ilia Topuria has surprisingly taken aim at the father of his UFC White House rival Justin Gaethje as tension between the two headliners threatens to explode.
There have also been suggestions out of the US overnight that the sledge may have fuelled Gaethje’s own crack at Topuria via Fox Sports Australia on Tuesday – with the American saying he understands why the UFC lightweight king’s wife famously left the “annoying little bastard”.
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Less than a fortnight out from UFC Freedom 250, the bad blood continues to build between the two men who will headline on the front lawn of American President Donald Trump.
Even Gaethje’s father, John Ray – a longtime Arizona miner – has now been dragged into the debate this week following comments made on his son’s Youtube page.
On Monday, Gaethje posted a video showing scenes from inside his fight camp, which included hanging out with family and friends — and his parents giving a speech at home over the weekend before dinner.
In the speech, John Ray talked about the huge challenges ahead for his son, and why he would prevail despite being a large betting outsider.
“This is the biggest fight of his life,” the old man started. “But we’ve said that three or four other times.
“He’s fighting another little, short guy, and he’s done really well against [Michael] Chandler and [Rafael] Fiziev, and a few others.
“I just see the same thing happening for this fight. This is what we trained for. This is what he put his whole life into since he was four years old. I’m excited and ready for it to happen.”
While the speech is unsurprising from a fighter’s father, the mention about “another little, short guy” apparently hasn’t sat well with Topuria, who responded quickly via social media with words of his own.
“Fathers hope. Champions know,” the champion wrote.
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“I’ve heard this story before: bigger men, stronger men, better men. Men who said I was just a small guy who was about to get a lesson in humility. They all learned the truth the same way. Your son already knows who I am.
“On June 14th, you will too. 18-0 PAPA”.
Certainly, there is no denying the power of the undefeated Topuria, who comes into the UFC White House card on a run of three straight finishes against Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Australia’s own Alexander Volkanovski.
Currently, the Spaniard is a $1.14 TAB favourite for the fight, with Gaethje now wound out to almost six bucks.
However, that hasn’t stopped the challenger taking the big stick to his more fancied rival this week, branding Topuria an “annoying little bastard” and a “gimmick” in an interview with Fox Sports Australia – while also saying he understands why the UFC lightweight king’s wife famously left him last year.
There have now been suggestions overnight that Gaethje, who isn’t known for his trash talk, was potentially responding to the ‘18-0 PAPA’ post from Topuria, which went live on social media around the same time as his interview.
In a separate interview with TMZ, Gaethje also talked up his role as UFC White House underdog saying: “I love being the underdog. I love being counted out.
“I love the fact that my opponent thinks he’s some kind of God or king because I get to bring him down and let him know he’s just a human like all of us.”
Gaethje then added that Topuria reminds him of Conor McGregor, who eventually tasted defeat numerous times in the octagon.
“This is how he approaches many fights,” Gaethje said of Topuria. “He’s been successful every time along the road.
“It’s similar to how McGregor approached it in that you’re going to make yourself this unbeatable, infallible person, and then when you lose, where do you go from there? So, I can’t wait to teach him that lesson.”
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The latest war words continues a wonderful build of tension between the pair.
Only last month, Topuria opted to bait Gaethje during no less than a meeting with President Trump inside The Oval Office, asking the world leader: “Why did you want to give the toughest test to a friend of yours?”
More recently, the fighter dubbed ‘El Matador’ has also released a video of himself placing a special white rose at the base of a Gaethje mural — which itself sits next to murals of previous victims Oliveira, Holloway, and Volkanovski, each of which has a red rose before it.
Asked this week about the rose gimmick, and Gaethje declared himself unimpressed.
“All that guy is, is a gimmick,” he said . “He calls himself the king. He thinks he’s a God. What an annoying little bastard. I couldn’t imagine being in a room with him for 30 minutes listening to him talk about himself …”
Then, after a short pause, Gaejthe fired off a shot of his own.
“And I can say this: I would leave him,” he grinned. “That’s all I’m saying. I would leave him.
“No way I would put up with his s***.”
Back in January, Topuria finally settled a long, and incredibly contentious, divorce and custody battle with former wife Giorgina Uzcategui. The announcement ended months of drama for the UFC champ, who has not fought since finishing Oliveira in June last year.
Due to issues around his personal life, Topuria was ruled out of a January title fight, at which time Gaethje stepped up and beat Irishman Paddy Pimblett for the interim strap.