Mani Tavanaei, Ilia Topuria's BJJ sparring partner: "He can subdue Charles Oliveira one hundred percent"

Former UFC featherweight champion and Spanish national sports star Ilia Topuria is entering the final stretch of his training to continue building his legend in mixed martial arts (MMA). On June 28, El Matador, as he is nicknamed, will face Brazilian Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight belt, giving him the chance to become the tenth athlete to win two different weight classes in the world's largest MMA league.

During his training camp, Topuria has worked with various figures to help him work on the various aspects of mixed martial arts. For example, his brother, Aleksandre Topuria, also a UFC fighter, has been present during his preparation, as has his striking coach, Javi Climent.

But there are two other members of the team, Mathias Ribeiro and Mani Tavanaei , who have been working side by side on the ground, that is, Brazilian jiujitsu (BJJ), a discipline in which his rival, Charles Oliveira , is an expert. He holds the all-time record for submissions in the UFC, with 16 wins using that method. A priori, that would be the 'worst' scenario in the fight for Topuria, but one of the men who has been rolling for hours and hours on the ground with the Spanish-Georgian is not worried.

"I see him as very fine, he can beat Charles Oliveira in any area, if he wants to in the striking department... He can fight him, he can finish him on the ground, we're relaxed. If you look at Ilia's record, he has a lot of submissions under his belt, the fact that he hasn't shown this in the UFC isn't a sign that he doesn't have any ground... He has a very high level of ground, and if the fight goes there, and he needs to prove it, he'll prove it, " explains Mani Tavanaei in an exclusive interview with ABC MMA.

It's no small feat that, during his professional career, Topuria has racked up half of his victories by submission (8 of 16). "He has a ton of very powerful finishes, he's very good at anticipating all the situations that come his way, he's a true Brazilian jiujitsu black belt, I always say the same thing," Tavanaei notes.

But, if the fight is contested on the mat, could El Matador submit the Brazilian ? " I'm 100 percent sure Ilia can submit Charles, he can submit him, he can knock him out, it will depend a bit on how the fight develops, how he feels about it. I would love a submission finish, but it can be whatever he wants," the multiple-time European BJJ champion firmly states.

Regarding the difference from their previous fight, in which Topuria defended his title against a Hawaiian legend like Max Holloway, Tavanaei would prefer a submission this time. "Against Max Holloway, I wanted the knockout because that's what he wanted. But I always prefer the submission because that's what I like the most. In this case, I find it more interesting to finish Charles, who holds the UFC's all-time submission record. I think landing a finish on him would be epic ," he concludes.