{"id":39102,"date":"2026-07-02T02:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T02:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Justin-Gaethjes-coach-Trevor-Wittman-defends-Aleksandre-Topurias-stoppage-of-Ilia-Topuria-201718"},"modified":"2026-07-02T02:47:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T02:47:31","slug":"justin-gaethjes-coach-trevor-wittman-defends-aleksandre-topurias-stoppage-of-ilia-topuria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/justin-gaethjes-coach-trevor-wittman-defends-aleksandre-topurias-stoppage-of-ilia-topuria\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Gaethje\u2019s coach Trevor Wittman defends Aleksandre Topuria\u2019s stoppage of Ilia Topuria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Justin
\nGaethje<\/a>\u2019s coach, Trevor Wittman, appreciates Aleksandre
\nTopuria<\/a>\u2019s cornerwork.<\/p>\n

Gaethje (29-5) challenged Aleksandre\u2019s brother, Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a> (17-1), for the undisputed lightweight title at
\n
\nUFC Freedom 250<\/a> last month. While Ilia was a massive favorite,
\nGaethje viciously piled on the damage in the third and fourth
\nrounds.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Despite showing immense grit to fight through Gaethje\u2019s offense,
\nIlia was barely able to see at the end of the fourth round,
\nprompting Aleksandre to force a stoppage before the fifth. Notably,
\nthe ringside doctor seemingly came close to stopping the bout at
\nthe end of the third round.<\/p>\n

Trevor Wittman discusses Aleksandre Topuria\u2019s decision to stop
\nIlia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje<\/h2>\n

Wittman lauds the concern that Aleksandre had for his brother.
\nWhile some of the conversations in the Topuria corner were lost in
\ntranslation, the veteran coach claims Ilia had made it clear that
\nhe couldn\u2019t continue after a point. Wittman believes an athlete\u2019s
\nsafety should be the primary concern of their cornerman, which was
\nthe case for Aleksandre.<\/p>\n

He said on the ONX Sport podcast: \u201cIlia\u2019s brother did the right
\nthing to stop the fight. I didn\u2019t hear what he said until I
\nunderstood that language, where he was like, \u2018We\u2019re gonna finish
\nthe fight.\u2019 He was talking to the ref, he wasn\u2019t talking to Ilia.
\nSo I took it as, Ilia was like, \u2018Dude I can\u2019t go on.\u2019 And when you
\nhear that from your athlete, you have to make the right
\nchoice.\u201d<\/p>\n