Ilia Topuria is just 28 and is already a former UFC featherweight champion and undefeated with a record of 16-0-0. He is also the first fighter from Spain to win a UFC title, recently even had a street named after him in the EU country. He has a strong base in grappling with his Greco-Roman wrestling background, coupled with high-level Jiu-Jitsu. His striking is also some of the best in the promotion, with incredible combinations and unreal power. When Ilia Topuria appeared on the JRE MMA Show #166, he couldn’t help but praise the Spanish-Georgian’s power.
Topuria started by saying, “I go for the takedowns. I mix it up, you get crazy.” Rogan chimed in, saying, “It’s interesting that you didn’t start boxing until you were 17 because you were probably the best boxer in not the featherweight division, but might be the best boxer in the sport. In terms of your movement and your one-punch power. Your one-punch power is pretty fun—crazy. I think you either have you can either develop it, and it depends on the technique. Either you have power or you don’t have power. Did you always notice that?”
The Spanish-Georgian, with an intense look in his eye, smirked and said, “I always had power.” Rogan agreed and said, “Isn’t that crazy? It’s a God-given thing.” The UFC colour commentator then placed Topuria’s skills over Holloway’s and said, “How could you not be? You knocked out two of the greatest Hall of Famers. Two all-time greats! Volkanovski and Max Holloway are all-time greats. Two of the greatest featherweight champions. So if you’re a great featherweight champion, you’re the greatest in a division that probably has.”
Former UFC double-champ Daniel Cormier also showered Topuria with compliments on his boxing and compared his power to that of the legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao. When Topuria defeated Max Holloway at UFC 308, ‘DC’ was shocked by his prowess.
He said to TNT Sports Box Office: “He got here in 2020, he literally debuted in 2020, and now he’s beaten Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski! I’m racking my brains to find someone that small, that possesses that type of power. It was like when Manny Pacquiao was fighting at 135 and knocked them people out. You just don’t see it. Conor [McGregor] used to hit that hard, but this new boxer’s better than Conor McGregor.”
However, the clock seems to be ticking for the former featherweight champion. Why do we say that? Well, ‘La Leyenda’, himself, said that he wants to retire by 30, and he’s 28 years old now.
Topuria wants to retire by 30, but can he win the lightweight title by then?
“I’m 27, I hope to be out by 30. Right now, in my division, I no longer have the motivation to defend the belt. Now I want to move up a category, and we’ll see how everything goes.”, the Georgian Spaniard had declared to a Spanish broadcaster Juanma Castaño, last year.
He also declared the same to Patrick Bet David on a podcast and said that he intends to fight, “Until I [no longer] enjoy it, to be honest”. However, retiring by 30 along with winning the lightweight belt might not be such an easy road, as Islam Makhachev is sitting on the lightweight throne right now. Topuria even spoke about retirement to Joe Rogan, saying that he would fight till he enjoys it. He said, “I don’t know how many fights maybe till 32, 34 [age]… Right now I’m enjoying, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
On top of that, he has already started training for his next fight and posted on X saying, “The camp has begun.” We just have to see if he gets his desired title fight against Islam Makhachev or fights Charles Oliveira or Arman Tsarukyan next. What do you think Topuria’s future holds? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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