Ilia Topuria - World’s First Spanish UFC Champion

Being the first Spanish mixed martial artist to become the UFC featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria has proved with his remarkable achievements in the cage that he is a self-assured fighter who believes in his abilities, works hard and achieves the most difficult goals in some of the highly competitive environments. His latest win against a seasoned mixed martial artist, Alexander Volkanovski catapulted his prop MMA career to new heights and turned the attention of the entire MMA community towards Ilia Topuria’s personal life, early life, introduction to the world of martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background, and other details worth-knowing about the champion’s life.

Currently, Ilia Topuria’s winning MMA streak is completely unblemished, boasting a commendable 15-0-0 (W/L/D) record. Topuria's violent rise in the world of MMA is just what is required to keep the UFC tradition going for years as hands down he deserves the #1 current best MMA featherweight fighter ranking. 

Ilia Topuria was born on January 21, 1997, in Halle Westfalen, Germany to Georgian parents. Leading a refugee life after fleeing from Abkhazia, Topuria’s parents could never have predicted that they have just welcomed the future UFC featherweight champion. By the age of four, Topuria had started judo training but could not continue because his family moved to Georgia when he was only seven years old. 

In Georgia, Topuria discovered Greco-Roman wrestling at the local school and started developing an interest in the combat sport. Ilia Topuria’s father was also a wrestler and so he supported his son to begin training at the tender age of seven. 

Due to some political issues, Topuria’s family had to move again when he was 15 years old. This time, they migrated to Alicante, Spain. Since Greco-Roman wrestling practice in school had already kindled a desire for combat sports in Topuria, it was natural that he joined the Climent Club as soon as he discovered it. However, this time, Topuria was pursuing martial arts. When he realized his potential in mixed martial arts , Topuria convinced his father to allow him to pursue MMA full-time. With the blessing of his father, he quit high school and started dedicating all of his time to grueling martial arts practice sessions. 

In 2015, Topuria began competing in local MMA competitions and also participated in different jiu-jitsu and wrestling tournaments around Europe. Finally, at the age of 18, Topuria made his MMA debut. During an interview on the MMA Hour, Topuria informed Ariel Helwani that ever since he discovered mixed martial arts as a teenager, his only dream was to make an appearance at the UFC and emerge a successful MMA fighter. The veracity of Topuria’s claim could not be debated or falsified because from a young age, he took the MMA world by storm by accumulating an undefeated record of 8-0. At this time, Topuria was competing in European MMA promotional campaigns, such as Cage Warriors and Brave Combat Federation, he developed an impressive profile that compelled UFC to notice Ilia Topuria and give him a platform to demonstrate his talent. 

In 2020, Ilia Topuria’s dream came true when he received a call from UFC. After this call, Topuria never saw back and managed to compile a winning one after the other in the octagon. From KO punches to submission and decision wins, Ilia Topuria has won all of the UFC fights he has appeared in till date. With every victory, he emerged more confident, skilled, brutal, and invincible to a point where most UFC fighters have now started seeing him as a threat. Quickly adapting to the UFc trash-talk culture, Ilia Topuria is often seen trash-talking and provoking his opponent only to further overpower him inside the cage. Ilia Topuria has had a large fanbase but now after winning the fight against Josh Emmett in Jacksonville, Florida, and Alexander Volkanovski in Anaheim, California, his popularity has skyrocketed. His personality suits UFC and it seems that he was born to be an MMA champion. 

Ilia Topuria started his professional MMA career with four consecutive submission wins in the Mix Events promotion. He won a belt and conquered the Spanish MMA scene during his initial years. In 2018, Topuria participated in his career’s first international MMA bout in Cage MMA Finland. Next, in May 2018, Topuria and his brother Alex Topuria were elevated to the Georgian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt level. 

After several more months of training and developing his fight portfolio, Topuria got an opportunity to compete in the Cage Warriors Bantamweight Championship, which was held at the Lotto Arena in Antwerp, Belgium. With his unmatched striking and grappling skills, Topuria won the bout but did not receive the belt because he failed to make the contracted weight for the fight. 

In 2019, Brave Combat Federation signed a contract with Ilia Topuria, who made his debut in Bogota, Colombia. In the first round of his first Brave Combat Federation fight, Topuria defeated his opponent, Luis Gomez with a submission finish. This fight earned Topuria the Best Performance of the Night award. 

In November 2019, Ilia Topuria won his second Brave Combat Federation bout against Steven Goncalves. The KO punch finish in the first round is still considered one of the best knockouts of Topuria’s professional MMA career. 

For his UFC debut fight, Ilia Topuria replaced Seung Woo Choi and competed against Youssef Zalal. This short-notice bout took place on October 11, 2020, at a UFC Fight Night event headlined as Moraes vs. Sandhagen. Topuria, continuing his undefeated winning streak, won this bout via unanimous decision.

Next, on December 05, 2020, at UFC on ESPN event headlined Hermasson vs. Vettori, Topuria competed against Damon Jackson and defeated his opponent with a brutal knockout in the first round.

On July 10, 2021, Topuria competed against Ryan Hall, another excellent MMA fighter, at the UFC 264 event. Topuria again emerged victorious, defeating his opponent via knockout in the first round.

On January 22, 2022, Ilia Topuria was scheduled to compete against Movsar Evloev, at UFC 270. Evloev withdrew from the match due to unknown reasons, causing Topuria to face Charles Jourdain, the new replacement. This time, Topuria withdrew from the fight due to a medical condition related to weight cutting. Consequently, the bout was canceled with no replacements announced for Topuria.

Another exciting fight was witnessed between Jai Herbert and Ilia Topuria on March 19, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 204. Originally, Topuria was scheduled to compete against Mike Davis who was later replaced for undisclosed reasons. In the first round, Topuria suffered a knockout after Herbert delivered a strong head kick. However, luck was certainly not on Jai Herbert’s side that night because Topuria recovered only to defeat Herbert with a lethal knockout in round two. For this fantastic win, Topuria earned a Performance of the Night award.

On October 29, 2022, Topuria was set to compete against Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 213. Barboza pulled out from the fight in late September due to a serious knee injury. As a result, the bout was canceled and no replacements were announced for Barboza.

The UFC enthusiasts witnessed another spine-chilling win on December 10, 2022, at UFC 282. Ilia Topuria competed against Bryce Mitchell and quickly subdued him with an arm triangle choke submission finish. For this submission, Topuria received a Performance of the Night award.

On June 17, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 47, the UFC world witnessed another exciting match between Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett. The UFC later announced that the bout headline has been changed to UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria. This match was rescheduled for June 24, 2023. Though Emmett was sure that he had a clear advantage over Topuria, he was clearly mistaken because Topuria bested him via unanimous decision in round five. In this match, Topuria received the Fight of the Night award for his impressive fighting skills. 

The year 2024 marked the biggest achievement in Ilia Topuria’s professional MMA career after he defeated Alexander Volkanovski and made history on January 20, 2024. This win led to Topuria winning the title of Featherweight UFC Champion and also improved his ranking to #1 Current Best MMA Featherweight Fighter and #1 MMA Fighter of the Year for 2024. 

Alexander Volkanovski was scheduled to compete against Islam Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 294. Consequently, the scheduled fight between Alexander and Ilia Topuria was rescheduled a month later on February 17, 2024, and was headlined as UFC 298. Ilia Topuria won this bout in the second round via a jolting knockout finish. This win ended Volkanovski’s four-year monopoly over the UFC featherweight championship title. Additionally, Ilia Topuria was awarded the Performance of the Night Award for this fight. 

Ilia Topuria combines both Greco-Roman wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu techniques in his MMA fighting strategy. Learning both striking and grappling techniques at a young age has shaped him into a focused and precision-oriented fighter who never fails to control and subdue his opponent. Ilia Topuria is often commended for his remarkable footwork and shoulder movements, both of which make his striking abilities lethal. Commentators and critics in a match often observe that Topuria never loses his foundation, when he focuses on delivering punches, his movements are quick and he recovers immediately to change his fighting strategy or regain his original pace. He relies on heavy blows, and powerful strikes, and also uses his right hand to achieve the strongest impact. When Jai Herbert knocked out Topuria in the UFC Fight Night 204 event, no one could have predicted that Topuria would retaliate with an even more violent blow that quickly incapacitated his opponent, leaving him unable to fight back.

Other than strikes, Ilia Topuria is also unmatched when it comes to kicking abilities. His precision, timing, and use of force make him invincible no matter what he delivers to his opponent. It is often seen that Topuria uses kicks to force his opponents to move their hands out of his way. When they defend their faces from Topuria’s strong kicks, he just launches his other weapons at them, especially strikes. As an attacker, Topuria has a reckless fighting strategy, giving his opponent no chance to anticipate or counter his attacks.

When it comes to self-defense, both his wrestling and grappling skills come to his rescue. As soon as he gets on the ground, he takes out his jiu-jitsu arsenal, establishing the mounted game, escaping disadvantageous positions, and often reversing an opponent’s strategy to his advantage. In his bout against Bryce Mitchell, a seasoned featherweight MMA fighter and a grappler, he utilized arm triangle submission techniques and manipulative maneuvers to subdue and defeat his rival.

Having both a Greco-Roman wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background, Ilia Topuria is the prime example of learning both combat sports to handle any kind of fighting situation. No matter what his opponent does to gain control, Topuria never runs out of options and eventually manages to steer the fight toward his victory. Ilia Topuria undeniably has the most unique skill set that makes him the best current featherweight fighter. 

Ilia Topuria is fluent in the Georgian language and is also familiar with Mingrelian. On March 05, 2024, Topuria obtained Spanish citizenship, and later in the same month he received the Order of Honor by the President of Georgia.

Topuria is in a relationship with Giorgina Uzcategui Badell who was also present when the Georgian Hispanic MMA fighter became the new UFC featherweight champion. Topuria and Giorgina are expecting their first child. 

In 2023, Ilia Topuria competed against Josh Emmett at the UFC on ABC 05 event held in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Just like other UFC fights, this too was a jolting bout consisting of five rounds. Josh Emmett was extremely sure of his abilities, considering Ilia Topuria, no matter how talented and ruthless, was still less experienced than Emmett in the octagon. In this MMA bout, Josh Emmett, a BJJ purple belt, was against Ilia Topuria, a BJJ black belt.

Therefore, if we compare the grappling skills of the two, Topuria’s credentials were clearly higher than Emmett’s. On the other hand, Topuria was also well-known for his striking abilities. In fact, his Greco-Roman wrestling background and unmatched striking skills have made him an invincible UFC fighter till date. Hence, Josh Emmett’s overconfidence clouded his judgment, leading to his defeat in the octagon.

At the start of the match, Topuria launched heavy blows, jabs, and punches to overpower Emmett and dictate his movements. Without giving much time to Emmett to react, Topuria made sure that he remained in charge of the bout from start to finish.

As the fight advanced into rounds two and three, Josh Emmett showcased commendable resilience against Topuriaa’s relentless attacks, which included high kicks, precise submission techniques, and heartlessly delivered punches. Under Topuria’s well-thought-out attacking strategy, there was little Emmett could do to recover and retaliate. His movements were restricted to survive and defend in the cage. Topuria sensing Emmett’s inability to keep up, quickly incorporated leg kicks and counterattacks in his fighting strategy against Emmett. Therefore, the latter was seen struggling to switch on his attacking mode throughout the match.

When Emmett did not give up after a hectic three-round fight, Topuria became even more ruthless, unleashing full power of his superior skill set, transitioning from one style to the other. These tactics of Topuria tired Emmett out and even though he did not tap out or submit easily, judges and spectators could see that he was barely keeping it together. Topuria continued with his strikes, causing visible damage to his opponent’s face, body, and fighting spirit. As a result of these impactful blows, Topuria gained many openings. He quickly seized the opportunity and delivered a solid uppercut blow.

Despite this powerful strike, Emmett continued on, delivering some of his own punches to push Topuria back. If Emmett was not so drained, he might have been able to tilt the match in his favor in the concluding rounds. But Topuria’s outstanding performance resulted in his victory via unanimous decision. 

In 2022, Ilia Topuria competed against Ryan Hall in an exciting featherweight MMA fight, expanding over five rounds. Much to the delight of the spectators, both the fighters had a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background, with Ryan Hall being extremely well-known for introducing new submission techniques and transitional maneuvers. On the other hand, Ilia Topuria was a force to reckon with, boasting a deadly hybrid skill set of Greco-Roman wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Not to mention, he has exceptionally phenomenal striking abilities. His precision, power, timing, and pace is a treat to watch.

In the UFC 64 fight event, no better fighters could be pitted against each other. As the first round started, both fighters took to their unique fighting styles. Each fighter trying to trap the other in his way, trying to manipulate or influence their strategy to dictate the result of the fight. Ryan Hall, being an expert grappler and an unconventional submission master, was set to showcase some captivating ground game. While Ilia Topuria, boasting prowess in both wrestling and grappling fighting styles, was anything but intimidated by Ryan Hall’s abilities and achievements.

In terms of striking power and prowess, Topuria was hands down more skilled. However, over the years, Ryan Hall had also sharpened his striking skills, causing spectators and judges to believe that he could easily overpower Topuria’s striking attacks.

In the first round, Ryan Hall immediately took to ground-based fighting strategies, trying to tempt Topuria to grapple with him. For this Hall tried different bizarre moves and tactics that were incomprehensible for Topuria at first, who was mainly focused on finding openings to land strikes. The first half of the round went by in the similar manner where Hall was attempting to bring the fight to the ground, and Topuria was aiming to fight in standing position. Therefore, Topuria ignored Hall and launched his signature attacks on Hall, which included well-timed powerful blows delivered with precision on aimed targets.

Eventually, Topuria found the openings he was looking for and he landed solid punches one after the other, leaving Hall no chance to defend himself or retaliate. Ryan Hall’s unconventional ground-based fighting strategy backfired because it led to his downfall against Topuria in the cage. Throughout the course of the fight, Ryan Hall was extremely vulnerable against Topuria, who capitalized on every wrong move by his rival.

From start to finish, Topuria dominated Hall with his aggressive stance and violent blows. Ryan Hall tried multiple submission and throw-down attempts but remained unsuccessful each time. He also tried striking back, but it was too late because he was totally drained of his energy while Topuria showed very little signs of damage.

The lapses in Ryan Hall’s fighting strategy resulted in Topuria’s historic win via knockout punches. This victory also strengthened his position as one of the emerging UFC featherweight champions.

The UFC 298 main event held in February 2024 saw Ilia Topuria competing against Alexander Volkanovski in a spine-chilling featherweight match. The match was a clash of two different fighting styles, with both fighters pressing on for victory.

Both Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski are multifaceted fighters, having expertise in different fighting styles. They also have an innate ability to transition quickly from one fighting strategy to the other, adapting to their opponent’s tactics. If at any given time an opponent thinks that he has gained an upper hand or left Topuria or Volkanovski out of options, they waste no time to prove them wrong. However, this time, they were facing each other.

From the beginning of round one, Topuria took to his aggressive fighting style, delivering powerful punches that landed on Volkanovski’s body and legs. All the strikes that Topuria aimed at Volkanovski caused much damage, and the latter was unable to gain footing and launch his own attack. Eventually, Toupuria’s strikes helped him achieve his goal, which was to incapacitate Volkanovski, leaving him unable to defend himself, recover from Topuria’s attacks, and retaliate.

Volkanovski tried really hard to deliver some strikes of his own and push Topuria back, but he failed each time because compared to his rival his own attempts were feeble and meek. Towards the end of round one, Topuria started hitting Volkanovski on his head. The former also remained alert and focused towards using openings to his advantage.

Whenever Volkanovki’s defensive stance staggered, Topuria would seize the opportunity and build more pressure so his rival would give in automatically. But Volkanovski, a three-time UFC featherweight champion, was not someone to back down easily. Volkanovski showed resilience and tried to keep up the best he could against Topuria’s unabating assault and positional transitions.

Volkanovski even tried to fight back and use some of his own powerful strikes to keep Topuria at arm’s length. But nothing was enough to stop Topuria because he could see his victory and all he needed was to push just a little harder. In round two of the fight, Topuria managed to find an opportunity to deliver a fatal right hook punch on Volkanovski’s chin, which he did with commendable precision. As a result, Volkanovski plummeted to the ground in a stunning knockout.

The referee, Jason Herzog stopped the fight immediately to save Volkanovski from further damage. At this point, he also announced Topuria the winner without any hesitation. Topuria won the fight against Volkanovski via knockout punch at 3 minutes and 32 seconds in round two. This result shook the MMA world because the UFC featherweight division had just gained a new champion - Ilia Topuria aka El Matador. 

On December 10, 2022, at UFC 282 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ilia Topuria faced Bryce Mitchell in a featherweight bout. These two undefeated prospects battled for dominance in the first round, displaying immense fighting skills and determination to outperform each other. Topuria, in his signature style, started landing clean and powerful strikes from the beginning of round one, effectively countering Mitchell’s takedown attempts.

Mitchell, being an excellent grappler, eventually secured a takedown towards the end of the first round, marking the first time Topuria was grounded in the octagon. However, Topuria didn’t waste any time, quickly recovered, and showcased a strong defense from his back.

In the second round, Mitchell successfully landed impactful punches on Topuria, exhausting his opponent in the process. However, Topuria took everyone by surprise when he retaliated with a violent uppercut that threw Mitchell off-balance, leading to a ground-based grappling exchange where Topuria clearly dominated.

Despite continuous efforts, Mitchell was easily subdued by Topuria who overwhelmed his opponent with a continuous use of force. By the end of round two, Topuria managed to successfully execute an arm triangle choke and achieved a submission finish at 3 minutes and 10 seconds of round two. 

One time winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight Division

Three-time Winner of the UFC Performance of the Night Award

One time Winner of the UFC Fight of the Night Award

One-time Mix Fight Events (MFE) Featherweight Champion 

One-Time Winner of December 2022, Submission of the Month Award 

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