UFC 312’s Colby Thicknesse: Aleksandre Topuria ‘not his brother’ and hasn’t beaten anybody

Aleksandre Topuria might be Ilia Topuria’s brother but that doesn’t mean he can fight like him, says Colby Thicknesse.

Thicknesse (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) takes on the UFC featherweight champion’s older brother, Aleksandre (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), this Saturday on the preliminary card of UFC 312 (pay-per-view, ESPN2/Disney+, ESPN+), which takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

Ahead of his UFC debut, Thicknesse is not letting the Ilia’s influence affect his assessment of his fight.

“He’s definitely got the same sort of style because they train together, but he’s not his brother, and I’m going to go out there on (Saturday) and show it,” Thicknesse told reporters at the UFC 312 media day. “He hasn’t really beaten anybody noticeable. His opponent’s combined records aren’t that great. Come (Saturday), I get to go out and show that against him.”

Although critical of Aleksandre, Thicknesse appreciates the situation. He will be cornered by Alexander Volkanovski, and Aleksandre will be cornered by Ilia, prompting a lot of attention of the fight given the history between Volkanovski and Ilia.

“Without a doubt, this is the biggest opportunity I could possibly get for my debut,” Thicknesse said. “There’s a built-in narrative with it and I get to fight on a (numbered event) and open up the prelims against a very hyped opponent that has a lot of support. I’m coming in with just as much support from Australia, so I really can’t wait to go out there on (Saturday). For my debut, I didn’t envision this, but it happened to turn out a lot better than I could’ve envisioned it.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.