UFC analyst Din Thomas is of the belief that Ilia Topuria will be able to bounce back from his UFC Freedom 250 defeat.

On Sunday night, Ilia Topuria fell to his first professional defeat as a mixed martial artist. He was beaten and battered by Justin Gaethje, and while he certainly had a few bright moments, especially in the second round, it isn’t a performance he will want to repeat anytime soon.

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For Topuria, it’s all about focusing on the future and seeing how long it will take him to get back. It doesn’t seem like he will require surgery for his facial injuries, which is always a positive, but he needs to make some big changes if he wants to reclaim his throne.

In a recent podcast appearance, Din Thomas weighed in on why he’s feeling positive about the next steps for Topuria.

Thomas looks ahead to Topuria’s future

“One day you’re gonna go, you’re gonna give it your all, and you’re gonna lose. When you’ve never experienced that, you’re not really in the club with everybody else. Because you don’t know what that feels like to be standing there with your head down, and the other guy gets his hand raised.
“The fact that Ilia finally got to feel it, he’s gonna be better from it. I’m looking forward to seeing his next fight, because of this loss. How he bounces back. It’s the one that he needed.

“He’s gonna have to do some soul searching. I think Ilia can do it. That’s what we’re gonna find out about Ilia. I think his real career just started [on] Sunday night.”

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