Ilia Topuria’s mother says it was a “daily routine” for ‘El Matador’ to fight in the streets: “It was not rare”
Ilia Topuria’s mother has said that it was pretty common for the UFC star to fight in the streets when he was younger.
Right now, Ilia Topuria is widely considered to be one of the best fighters on the planet. He has dominated the featherweight division and in his last two fights, he’s been able to knock out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. In the modern age, you just don’t see runs of form like that.
Of course, the attention has now turned to what the future will hold for ‘El Matador’. There are plenty of contenders for him at 145 pounds, but in addition, there’s a chance he could entertain a superfight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Either way, all eyes are on him – and in a recent book by Ilia’s mother, we got the chance to learn a bit more about his upbringing.
I'm reading the book "Mother & Ilia" which is dedicated to the story of Ilia Topuria's mother, Inga, who is from Abkhazia, a region of Georgia occupied by Russia.
There is a part of the story about Ilia and his brother, Aleksandre, fighting in the streets of Rustavi, Georgia. I… pic.twitter.com/X1lxbx6jKA
— Giorgi Kokiashvili 🇬🇪 (@iHeartGeorgius1) October 30, 2024
Topuria’s mother discusses Ilia’s childhood
“It was not rare, it was a daily routine,” she wrote in a new book about her son (translated by Giorgi Kokiashvili). “Whenever they were in the streets, they were fighting. Imagine: multiple boys would appear … they would come and tell you that they wanted your hat or your belt. There were three ways – giving up, running away and fighting.”
“Ilia and Aleksandre always preferred to fight, and at the end of the day, they always had their hat and belt.”
“It was not about the things,” she wrote. “It was about securing and defending their place in the streets … The way to their biggest championship belts started with keeping their own, ordinary belts in the streets of Rustavi.”
Quotes via MMA Mania
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