Ilia Topuria and his long-time coaches, Jorge and Agustin Climent, have parted ways.
Topuria, a former UFC featherweight champion, will no longer be working with the Climent brothers and training at Climent Club. MMA Junkie confirmed the news Tuesday following a report from Spanish media outlet Marca.
The split comes ahead of one of Topuria's biggest fights as it was recently announced he'll be fighting for the vacant UFC lightweight belt in a highly anticipated career move. Topuria is set to headline this year's International Fight Week pay-per-view, UFC 317, against ex-lightweight champ Charles Oliveira.
Topuria's entire MMA career to this point has been under the tutelage of the Climent brothers in Alicante, Spain. He's been working with them since he was a teenager. Due to Topuria's rise in fame and notoriety, he moved to Spain's capital of Madrid, which is a four-hour drive from Climent Club's headquarters in Alicante. For his last bout, which was a UFC featherweight title defense against Max Holloway, Topuria did his camp in Madrid with the coaches constantly traveling between the two cities.
Additionally, Topuria's older brother, Aleksandre – who fights in the UFC bantamweight division – will also not be continuing to fight under Climent Club.
Topuria is regarded as one of the best talents in MMA today. He's unbeaten in his career and cemented his status in the sport in his last two performances, which saw him win and defend the UFC title at 145 pounds. Both championship wins, which were against all-time great featherweights Holloway and Alexandre Volkannovski, came by knockout.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ilia Topuria makes major change before UFC lightweight title fight
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