Ilia Topuria News
Sean O’Malley vents frustration over the current UFC pound-for-pound rankings: “How’s Ilia higher?”
Susan Cox - July 5, 2024
Sean O’Malley is venting his frustration over the current UFC pound-for-pound rankings. The official UFC rankings garnered some changes following UFC 303 this past weekend.
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 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 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.
Javier Mendez dismisses Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria: "He doesn't need to fight him"
Fernando Quiles - May 31, 2024
American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez isn’t a fan of the idea of matching up UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev against Ilia Topuria, at least not right now. Topuria has quickly risen up the featherweight rankings to capture UFC gold at 145 pounds. His popularity has also gotten a nice jolt along the way and he has been laying out some lofty goal, including becoming a two-division champ.
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 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.
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.
Conor McGregor explains why he would pick Max Holloway to defeat “non-champion” Ilia Topuria
Harry Kettle - May 21, 2024
Conor McGregor has explained why he would back Max Holloway to defeat Ilia Topuria in a possible superfight. At UFC 300, Max Holloway put the lightweight and featherweight divisions on notice. He defeated Justin Gaethje via vicious knockout to cement his status as the true BMF of mixed martial arts. Now, many are wondering what’s next for him in the sport.
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 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 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.
Alex Volkanovski tells Ilia Topuria to step up and start acting like a champion: “He’s saying no to everyone”
Susan Cox - May 1, 2024
Alex Volkanovski is telling Ilia Topuria to step up and start acting like a champion. The undefeated Topuria is the current UFC featherweight champion.
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.
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.
Ilia Topuria claps back at Max Holloway over BMF title talk: “If you don’t like the terms I’m sure Ortega will oblige”
Cole Shelton - April 18, 2024
Ilia Topuria has fired back at Max Holloway and claims Brian Ortega could be getting the next featherweight title shot. In the lead-up to Holloway’s UFC 300 fight against Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt, the Hawaiian took shots at Topuria. He claimed there was a reason that the UFC never offered him Topuria before he got a title shot and called him questionable.
Ilia Topuria names the one stipulation he requires to accept a fight with Max Holloway: “If not, I’m going to fight with Volk”
Susan Cox - April 18, 2024
UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is naming the one stipulation he requires to accept a fight with Max Holloway. It was just last weekend that saw Max Hollowy (26-7 MMA) defeat Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA) by KO in a lightweight bout to become the newly crowned UFC BMF champion.
Ilia Topuria reveals details of run-in with Sean O'Malley at UFC 300 after recent fight talks
Curtis Calhoun - April 17, 2024
UFC titleholders Ilia Topuria and Sean O’Malley came face-to-face at UFC 300 after recent back-and-forths about a potential super fight. Topuria sat cage-side to take in all of the high-octane action at UFC 300 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Just two months ago, he defeated Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title to cap off a remarkable run inside the Octagon.