Ilia Topuria (Georgian: ილია თოფურია; born January 21, 1997) is a Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. Also ranked #2 at Featherweight. Tapology's proprietary ranking system. Tapology does not warrant or guarantee the data or information contained on the Site.
Many will say you can’t do it. They will knock you down and doubt you. 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.
Ilia Topuria, UFC Featherweight Champion
Early Life and Career
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.
In Georgia, Topuria discovered Greco-Roman wrestling at the local school and started developing an interest in the combat sport. 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.
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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. 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. 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.
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Ilia Topuria's Training Regimen
Early Career and BJJ Black Belt
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 competed in his career’s first international MMA bout in Cage MMA Finland.
In the same year, in May, he became the first Georgian black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu alongside his brother Alex Topuria. 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.
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. In November 2019, Ilia Topuria won his second Brave Combat Federation bout against Steven Goncalves.
Ilia Topuria | Top Finishes
UFC 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. Next, on December 05, 2020, at UFC on ESPN event headlined Hermasson vs.
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On July 10, 2021, Topuria competed against Ryan Hall, another excellent MMA fighter, at the UFC 264 event. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Ilia Topuria defeats Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298
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.
Initially coming into the UFC organization with a strong base in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Topuria dedicated himself to enhancing his stand-up game, developing a boxing-heavy approach under the guidance of experienced coaches. His boxing style is marked by precise shot selection, fluid combinations, and remarkable power, which was on full display during his knockout victories over Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira.
Topuria has trained with fellow Georgian and UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili, who has praised Topuria's grappling skills, stating that he has "great wrestling, great jiu-jitsu,".
Fighting Style
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. 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. 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.
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.
Personal Life
Ilia Topuria is fluent in the Georgian language and is also familiar with Mingrelian. 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.
Key Fights
Ilia Topuria vs. Josh Emmett
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. 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.
At the start of the match, Topuria launched heavy blows, jabs, and punches to overpower Emmett and dictate his movements. As the fight advanced into rounds two and three, Josh Emmett showcased commendable resilience against Topuria’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. 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. 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.
Ilia Topuria vs. Ryan Hall
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.
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. In terms of striking power and prowess, Topuria was hands down more skilled. 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. 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. 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. The lapses in Ryan Hall’s fighting strategy resulted in Topuria’s historic win via knockout punches.
Ilia Topuria vs. Alexander Volkanovski
The UFC 298 main event held in February 2024 saw Ilia Topuria competing against Alexander Volkanovski in a spine-chilling featherweight match. 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.
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. 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. 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 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. 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.
| Year | Award/Achievement | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Brave Combat Federation Debut | Defeated Luis Gomez by submission in the first round. |
| 2022 | Knockout of the Year (Ranked #7) | vs. Jai Herbert |
| 2022 | Submission of the Month (December) | vs. Bryce Mitchell |
| 2024 | Fighter of the Year (Tied) | Tied with Alex Pereira |
| 2024 | Knockout of the Year (Ranked #2) | vs. Max Holloway |
| 2025 | Knockout of the Year (Ranked #4) | vs. Charles Oliveira |
| 2025 | UFC Lightweight Championship | Won the vacant title |