Youssef Zalal had no idea how good Ilia Topuria was when he welcomed him to the UFC. Zalal (16-5-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) was scheduled to face Seung-Woo Choi in October 2020, but Choi was forced out just 10 days’ out from the fight. Topuria stepped in to face Zalal, but “The Moroccan Devil” didn’t know anything about him outside of his 100 percent finish rate. Topuria swarmed Zalal with his grappling, transitioning from submission to submission. However, Zalal hung tough and was able to escape out of numerous chokes
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UFC’s Youssef Zalal reflects on how Ilia Topuria loss made him step his game up – MMA Junkie