While one champion showed level to his opponent, the other one was newly crowned. UFC 317 delivered a great night of action, as Alexandre Pantoja and Ilia Topuria registered dominant title fight victories. ‘The Cannibal’, firstly, has continued its winning streak, while, secondly, ‘El Matador’ remains undefeated. At the moment, Pantoja and Topuria look unmovable in the respective divisions. However, there is a lot that the duo puts into staying at the top of their game.

After claiming the second belt and becoming one of the few two-weight champions in the history of the UFC, Ilia Topuria shared a little insight about the mental side of his game. We all know that the Georgian-Spaniard is one of the hardest hitters on the current roster of Dana White‘s promotion. He proved that again last Saturday. But how does Topuria handle the pressure of needing to keep up with his impressive performances? Well, the lightweight champion claims that it’s all about confidence, which he believes is the key to his success.

“I have that confidence inside myself. And I never doubt in myself… Because once you start doubting yourself, that doubt increases… and it switches into fear. And I don’t want to experience that fear before the fight because it’s terrible,” Ilia Topuria stated on the UFC’s About Last Fight podcast. The Alicante-based fighter even revealed to have had such an experience in the past when he ‘doubted’ himself. ‘El Matador’ battled those feelings by putting in the work at the gym. And guess what? Topuria believes in proving himself during the training sessions, where he believes lies the real fight to become a champion.

“I had that kind of experience before when I was fighting in the beginning of my professional career… Now, I’m like, ‘No way.’ I’m not gonna travel in the future, not going to think about if this happens. I’m gonna be ready for it,” Ilia Topuria added. “I used to say, ‘The belts are earned in the training’. In the competition, you just go to collect them, and this is what I did tonight.”

But if we take a look at what Alexandre Pantoja had to say about his mindset, it’s a tidbit different than Ilia Topuria. It’s not as much about confidence as it is about challenging himself for the flyweight champion. Here’s what he had to say.

Alexandre Pantoja’s approach is different than Ilia Topuria’s, and it works

Every fighter has their own journey and their own process of developing and growing as a competitor. While confidence works for Ilia Topuria, Alexandre Pantoja claims it’s all about the ability to learn things faster than the others, which he claims is ‘a gift to him from God.’ The flyweight also claims that as soon as he enters his gym, he forgets his status as a champion and pretends to train like a title challenger, which certainly helps him keep things in perspective and stay hungry. The approach will be the same for Pantoja when he fights Joshua Van next.

“I think [the] one gift God give to me is learning fast, things, you know. And I learn fast. I know what God want about me, and when you see me in the Octagon, you can see I’m the challenger. I want to take this belt again,” Alexandre Pantoja stated. “When I’m back to the gym… I don’t want [to be] the champion of the world. I wanna try to feel that again. Maybe in December versus Joshua [Van].”

Alexandre Pantoja may have dominated Kai Kara-France, but things did not look too good for him before the fight. The champion revealed that he had dealt with some serious health issues, especially a staph infection, which has also been a huge factor in ex-fighter Ben Askren’s current health crisis. However, ‘The Cannibal’ persevered and got well before putting on another great showing inside the Octagon.

Well, what do you make of Ilia Topuria’s and Alexandre Pantoja’s approach to the fight game? Let us know in the comments down below.