Ilia Topuria News

Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway
Ilia Topuria

Dana White reacts to Ilia Topuria suggesting the UFC forced Max Holloway to sign the contract

Susan Cox - July 29, 2024

Dana White is reacting to Ilia Topuria suggesting that the UFC forced Max Holloway to sign the contract. Current UFC BMF Champion Max Holloway (26-7 MMA) last fought and defeated Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA) by KO at the historic UFC 300 this past April.

Ilia Topuria UFC 298
UFC

Ilia Topuria hints a fight announcement is imminent: "El Matador is back"

Curtis Calhoun - July 24, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria sounds like he’s weeks away from a return to the cage for his first title defense. Topuria earned the UFC featherweight title by handing Alexander Volkanovski his second-straight knockout loss at UFC 298 in February. Since then, he’s lambasted some of the top contenders in the UFC featherweight division, as criticized by Volkanovski and others.

Ilia Topuria, Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor

Ilia Topuria hits back at Conor McGregor after threatening to "Slap the head off" him at BKFC presser

Curtis Calhoun - July 18, 2024

Tensions are intensifying between UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and superstar Conor McGregor. After withdrawing from his scheduled UFC bout with Michael Chandler at UFC 303, McGregor is recovering from a foot injury. In the meantime, he’s exploring some of his other avenues, including being a part-owner of Bare Knuckle FC.

Ilia Topuria and Sean O'Malley
Sean O'Malley

Sean O’Malley offers dim forecast for fellow UFC champion Ilia Topuria: “Gonna be the next Cody Garbrandt”

Harry Kettle - July 9, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has given his thoughts on the future of fellow champ Ilia Topuria. As we know, Sean O’Malley is one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts. He’s also the king of the bantamweight division, which is home to some of the best fighters in the sport. Alas, while he’s enjoying his time at 135 pounds, it makes sense that he’d tease the idea of a shift up to featherweight in the future due to his size.

Ilia Topuria, Alexander Volkanovski
Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria issues harsh response to Alexander Volkanovski's criticism over rejecting fights

Curtis Calhoun - July 3, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has responded to Alexander Volkanovski’s harsh criticism about his title reign. Topuria finished Volkanovski to earn the UFC featherweight title at UFC 298 back in February. He’s expected to return to the Octagon by the end of the year, potentially against BMF titleholder Max Holloway.

Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway
Max Holloway

Ilia Topuria reveals Max Holloway may not be his next opponent, 'Blessed' responds

Cole Shelton - July 3, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has given an update on his first title defense. Topuria won the featherweight title back in February with a knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski. The Georgian-Spaniard still doesn’t have his first title defense set despite Max Holloway being the No. 1 contender. However, Topuria says Holloway may not be available so he isn’t sure who he would fight.

Paddy Pimblett, Ilia Topuria
Max Holloway

Paddy Pimblett claims Ilia Topuria is "scared to take the fight" with Max Holloway

Cole Shelton - July 2, 2024

Paddy Pimblett says Ilia Topuria is sacred to take the fight with Max Holloway for his first title defense. Topuria became the UFC’s featherweight champion back in February with a knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski. He does not have his next fight booked but all signs point to him facing Holloway next.

Ilia Topuria, Conor McGregor
Ilia Topuria

UFC champion Ilia Topuria lashes out at "mentally broken" Conor McGregor

Harry Kettle - June 23, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has lashed out at Conor McGregor as talk of a potential superfight continues. As the king of the featherweight division, Ilia Topuria is on top of the world right now. He knocked out Alexander Volkanovski and now, he has a lot of directions he could head in. With that being said, he’s also rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. Of course, that’s also drawing a lot of attention to him and what he brings to the table.

Ilia Topuria, Alexander Volkanovski UFC 298
Ilia Topuria

Alexander Volkanovski promises fans the "real" him in possible Ilia Topuria rematch

Harry Kettle - May 30, 2024

Alexander Volkanovski has promised to show the real version of himself if he gets a rematch against Ilia Topuria. Earlier this year, Alexander Volkanovski lost the UFC featherweight championship. He was beaten by Ilia Topuria, who knocked him out cold in their fascinating title showdown. Now, many are wondering what’s next for ‘The Great’.

Ilia Topuria and Sean O'Malley
Sean O'Malley

Ilia Topuria reveals prediction for potential fight against UFC champion Sean O'Malley: "I can do whatever I want to him"

Josh Evanoff - May 27, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria believes he can do whatever he wants to Sean O’Malley. ‘El Matador’ is currently awaiting his next UFC assignment. In February, Ilia Topuria defeated then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski to win the gold. As of now, the 145-pound titleholder is expected to face Max Holloway, who’s fresh off his highlight-reel knockout win over Justin Gaethje in April.

Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria
Max Holloway

Ilia Topuria reveals Max Holloway fight is being targeted for the Las Vegas Sphere: "I want to fight as soon as possible"

Josh Evanoff - May 22, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria wants to fight Max Holloway sooner rather than later. ‘El Matador’ has been out of action since his shot at featherweight gold in the main event of UFC 298 in February. There, the rising Ilia Topuria met longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski. ‘The Great’ entered the bout fresh off his knockout loss to Islam Makhachev a few months prior, and it showed. It took just two rounds for Topuria to hand the Australian a stoppage loss.

Ilia Topuria, Conor McGregor
Ilia Topuria

Conor McGregor trashes reigning UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria: “He reminds me of a little r*tard Artem Lobov”

Harry Kettle - May 21, 2024

UFC superstar Conor McGregor has given his honest thoughts on UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Since knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the belt at 145 pounds, Ilia Topuria has become quite the name in the mixed martial arts scene. From his celebrity status to what he could do next in the Octagon, there are plenty of exciting things on the horizon.

Ilia Topuria, UFC, MMA
UFC

Ilia Topuria says he “already has a date” for UFC Spain

Susan Cox - May 15, 2024

Ilia Topuria is saying that he ‘already has a date’ for UFC Spain. The UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA) is claiming that he has a date for the promotion’s debut in Spain, where “El Matador” will make the first title defense.

Chael Sonnen
Ilia Topuria

Chael Sonnen goes to bat for Ilia Topuria following criticism of BMF title demands for Max Holloway fight

Susan Cox - May 2, 2024

Chael Sonnen is going to bat for Ilia Topuria following recent criticism of his BMF title demands for the Max Holloway fight. The undefeated Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA) most recently defeated Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA) by KO this past February at UFC 298.  With the victory ‘El Matador’ became the UFC featherweight champion.

Ilia Topuria
Joe Rogan

Ilia Topuria calls out Joe Rogan: "UFC never offered me this fight"

Zain Bando - May 1, 2024

Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), the UFC’s newly minted featherweight champion, is unhappy after recent comments from UFC color commentator Joe Rogan regarding Topuria’s intention not to immediately rematch Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) at UFC 305 in Australia in August. On a recent episode of “JRE,” the most widely-consumed podcast in the world, Rogan, who has been with the UFC since 2002 after a brief stint in the mid-90s, suggested that Topuria would not fight the former champion in Volkanovski based on rumors he had heard around the community.

Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria
Max Holloway

Max Holloway hits back after Ilia Topuria questions his desire to fight for the featherweight belt: 'You're spiraling!'

Curtis Calhoun - May 1, 2024

BMF titleholder Max Holloway wasn’t one to hold animosity toward other UFC fighters, until Ilia Topuria claimed the featherweight throne. Holloway earned the BMF belt by knocking out Justin Gaethje with one second left at UFC 300 last month. The win was his first career UFC lightweight victory and opened up many options for his next fight.

Max Holloway, Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria

Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe Ilia Topuria “has much say in this as he thinks he does” with potential Max Holloway title fight

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2024

Daniel Cormier has questioned how much of a say Ilia Topuria has in his potential showdown with Max Holloway. Since knocking out Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria has been enjoying life as one of the UFC’s biggest new stars. He’s a huge name in Spain, he’s the featherweight champion of the world, and he has plenty of fighters calling him out.

Ilia Topuria UFC 298
UFC

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria plans to be the highest paid fighter in the world in 2025: “I have no doubt”

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria wants to become one of the highest paid athletes in the world next year. Right now, Ilia Topuria is living his best life. He’s the king of the featherweights, he’s a huge name in Spain, and his star power continues to grow every day. Of course, many are currently questioning what’s next for him, especially with talks of a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski dying down.