Teddy Atlas explains how Ilia Topuria could be compared to boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson: "They had that belief"

Ilia Topuria is arguably the biggest star in the UFC. The pound-for-pound king has amassed a record few could dream of in under five years in the world's premier MMA promotion. Legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas is in awe of 'El Matador' and believes he possesses one quality that made two legends of boxing.

While Topuria is now most known for his thunderous KO power, supreme confidence is another factor that sets the Georgian-born Spaniard apart from the rest.

He had changed his Instagram bio to 'UFC featherweight champion ' even before his KO win against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. Similarly, the 28-year-old threw a victory party the night before his historic lightweight title-winning knockout over Charles Oliveira.

Check out Ilia Topuria celebrate his lightweight title win the night before the fight below:

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An article by MMA Junkie references a BetVictor Online Casino interview, where Atlas championed for Topuria to fight on the White House lawn, explaining how the UFC double champion emulated a quality that made Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson great:

"Ilia Topuria, he'd be great to have on that White House lawn, but for me, what makes him so special, Cus [D'Amato] once said to me that if somebody ever gets supreme confidence, it makes them very rare. It makes them very hard to beat and supreme confidence the way that he identified it and explained it to me was very rare in a way, that he only knew two people that ever had it: Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. [H/T MMA Junkie]"

Furthermore, Atlas elaborated on the idea of supreme confidence, stating that it was not just confidence but an ability to believe that nothing can sway the result against you:

"You go into the ring completely believing that there is nothing on earth that will keep you from winning that match. And even though they didn't win all their fights, they had that belief. [H/T MMA Junkie]"

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Ilia Topuria opens up about how a boxing great influenced his fighting style

Ilia Topuria has fast become one of the most devastating boxers in MMA. 'El Matador's' aggressive and technical striking has helped him dismantle many great MMA strikers, including Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, with relative ease.

Interestingly, Topuria's biggest inspiration comes not from any mixed martial arts legends of the past, but from boxing icon Canelo Alvarez. During a recent appearance on the PBD podcast, he said:

"We like a lot, Canelo. Canelo was and is one of my favorite athletes. Yeah, I learned so much from him. Technical skills. We were watching his videos, his training footage, like every day, and we were trying to copy that, to repeat that. He inspired us a lot."

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below:

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Edited by Ujwal Jain