BY COLIN BISH, STAFF WRITER
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Many fans criticized and laughed at the supreme confidence of Spanish-Georgian fighter Ilia Topuria. They called him “delusional” and hoped reigning Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski would humble the brash, young challenger.
Instead, Topuria proved everyone wrong, brutally knocking out Volkanovski in the second round and becoming the fifth Featherweight champion in UFC history. He joins the elite company of Volkanovski, Jose Aldo, Conor McGregor and Max Holloway.
With this victory and Topuria’s massive marketability, the UFC has discovered its new megastar. Topuria’s UFC career looks eerily similar to McGregor’s meteoric rise almost eight years ago.
The stats speak volumes: both men held a 7-0 UFC record, won 15 professional fights in a row and won the UFC Featherweight title via knockout at age 27.
The resemblances are uncanny, but the stats don’t tell the entire story. Topuria has confidence at levels not seen since McGregor.
From declaring himself the UFC world champion in his Instagram bio months before his title fight to announcing a pre-recorded documentary titled “Road to the Belt,” it’s obvious that Topuria believes in his skills wholeheartedly.
Just like how McGregor had the country of Ireland behind him during his rise, Topuria has the countries of Georgia and Spain.
Despite having a population of about four million, Georgia has created a large MMA fanbase with the rise of fighters like Topuria, Merab Dvalishvili and Giga Chikadze. With a population of almost 50 million, Spain already has a massive sports fanbase due to the success of football clubs like Real Madrid FC and FC Barcelona, adding more fuel to Topuria’s growing flame.
Skill-wise, Topuria possesses more overall skill as a mixed martial artist at 27 than McGregor had at the same age.
Topuria started his career with seven consecutive submissions but has flexed his superb boxing and power in the UFC with highlight-reel knockouts over Volkanovski, Jai Herbert and Damon Jackson. McGregor had amazing striking early in his UFC career but lacked a solid grappling pedigree, unlike Topuria.
It also helps Topuria’s case that his ascent never felt forced, and he never shied away from the spotlight. Not only did he accept the challenge of being a star, he relished it.
For example, while UFC Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley looks like a megastar, he doesn’t act the part. O’Malley is incredibly skilled but lacks the comedic wit or brimming confidence that could expose him to a larger audience like McGregor.
Instead, O’Malley’s trash-talk sounds like a high schooler in an online Call of Duty game chat. However, whether Topuria speaks Spanish, Georgian, German, or even a little English, anyone can tell the guy oozes confidence, and he has one goal when he says: to decimate his opponent and leave the haters speechless.
While Volkanovski, one of the most popular UFC fighters, losing to Topuria stunned many, it also created a much-needed shift in the Featherweight division and the UFC. Topuria brings a new era into the UFC with his fighting skills and eastern world marketability.
bishcj22@bonaventure.edu
