Josh Hokit: Ilia Topuria's training room intensity cost him

Josh Hokit has a theory on why Ilia Topuria suffered his first professional loss this month at UFC White House: the featherweight champion reportedly beats up his training partners so badly that they no longer push him in the gym.

Topuria entered his lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje as a heavy favorite but was stopped in the fourth round when his corner threw in the towel. Hokit, who stopped Derrick Lewis on the same card, told Ariel Helwani that Topuria's aggressive sparring habits may have left him unprepared for elite-level opposition.

Why Hokit says Topuria's sparring habits backfired

According to Hokit, Topuria's training partners are afraid to engage with him at full intensity because they risk getting hurt. "Topuria makes the mistake of, maybe a trains a little to hard in the sense of, he beats up his teammates, and so now the teammates fear him, where now he's not getting a certain look," Hokit said on The Ariel Helwani Show, per Sherdog. "If you're always hitting people in the liver, you're always dropping your teammates, the teammates are kind of shelled up or scared to hit you."

Hokit added that he trains hard himself but would never injure his own teammates. He believes Topuria's distance management and timing suffered because his sparring partners stopped testing his defense. "You want a healthy balance in practice where the guy is still trying to test you, so you have to practice your defense. I think that's why his distance and timing were off, because of that," he said.

Hokit and Topuria feuded in the lead-up to UFC White House after Hokit mocked Alex Pereira and later targeted Topuria's ex-wife at the pre-fight press conference. Topuria threw a glass of water at Hokit during one exchange, and Hokit was escorted out. Hokit remains undefeated at 10-0 while Topuria dropped to 17-1 following the Gaethje loss.

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• Sherdog — Josh Hokit speculates that Ilia Topuria 'beats up' training partners