Instant Clásico: Inside Ilia Topuria's ascendent rise as a Spanish superstar

Fans on this side of the Atlantic might not know it, but there’s a major controversy in the sports world headed into this weekend. It’s a scheduling issue, really. And an awful lot of people in Spain have taken note of it, UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria among them.

“Over here, [Topuria] is huge,” said Gonzalo Campos, a commentator for UFC broadcasts on Eurosport in Spain. “Like, massively huge. That’s why there is this controversy.”

You see, Topuria will defend his UFC featherweight title in what’s expected to be a blockbuster of a main event bout against former champ Max Holloway at UFC 308 on Saturday. The event takes place in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. (You might remember it from its previous incarnation as “Fight Island,” which is now as forgotten as the beach towels that once bore its name).

Because of the location, this event starts earlier than usual, with the main card set to begin at 2 p.m. ET. That will put Topuria’s fight in a direct conflict with Spain’s other big sports event of the day — El Clásico, the late October meeting between rival soccer clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona FC.

“Instead of having to fight Max Holloway,” Topuria said at UFC 308 media day, “I have to fight the person responsible for putting that match on at the same time, the same day as my fight, when that was known a couple of months ago.”

That person, it was quickly pointed out, is Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga. And when Tebas heard he’d made Topuria’s hit list, he felt obliged to respond, replying that knocking him out would be even harder than scheduling El Clásico at a time that works for everyone, “but give Max Holloway everything you want!”

The fact that it’s even a discussion, that it’s even considered a scheduling conflict at all, is proof of Topuria’s celebrity in his adopted home. Soccer in general, and La Liga specifically (Topuria is a Real Madrid supporter, by the way, while Barca gifted Holloway a team jersey this week), are so popular in Spain that most other sports hardly rate in comparison. That a UFC fighter could even be considered on similar terms is brand new territory. And yet now it is reality, both for the nation and for Topuria.

“To be honest, it feels amazing,” Topuria told Uncrowned prior to leaving for Abu Dhabi. “To get this kind of recognition, I don’t know how to explain it. When you put so much hard work into this project of your life, and you get so much love and recognition for it, that’s an amazing feeling.”

For Topuria, the love comes not only from Spain but also from Georgia, where his parents emigrated from. Topuria was born in Germany, where his parents ended up after fleeing a brewing conflict between Georgia and Russia. He moved back to Georgia when he was 7, which is when Ilia and his brother began training in Greco-Roman wrestling, long a favorite combat sports pastime in Georgia.

When the family finally settled in Spain, his parents worried that the boys would lose an important physical outlet if they couldn’t find a place to continue their training. The story goes that, after spotting a man on the street with cauliflower ear, Topuria’s mother approached him and asked if he knew of a place where her boys could train. Turns out he did, and the rest is history.

Now Topuria is feted as a superstar in both Georgia and Spain, a dual love he appreciates equally, he said.

“It's very difficult to choose between your mom and your dad,” Topuria said. “That's the kind of feeling I have with Georgia and Spain. When someone asks me, 'You have to choose one of them,' I can't. I can't because I feel like I represent both of the countries. Both of them gave me so many great things, so many great values.”

Spain’s love for Topuria can be seen in how he’s been integrated into the celebrity soccer culture. After winning the UFC featherweight title with a knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in February, Topuria was featured on the cover of MARCA, a popular daily sports newspaper that typically focuses primarily on soccer news. Topuria was also a guest of Real Madrid to perform the ceremonial kickoff prior to a match with Sevilla last season, and was cheered passionately by both fans and players.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but when you see 90,000 people queueing up to see Ilia Topuria, and the way he appeared in a suit, it was amazing,” said Campos. “He was a superstar. All the Real Madrid players, they wanted to have pictures with him.”

All of this has changed daily life for Topuria, he admitted. He gets recognized every time he leaves the house. When he and his family go out to eat, they must be prepared for multiple interruptions. It’s all part of being a sports star in Spain. But also, it’s the kind of thing he has to keep at a distance in order to maintain the focus and commitment required to stay a champion.

“The thing is that when many fighters become a world champion, it's like they change their lifestyle,” Topuria said. “They forget the values that put them into that position to become a world champion. But I kept with the same values. I keep working and sacrificing because this is what I really love to do.

"Success for some people could be money or it could be a UFC belt. For me, it's happiness. And I feel happy when I train every day, because I love what I'm doing. That’s why I feel that right now at this point, there is no one that can do anything with me inside the cage. It doesn't matter if it is Max Holloway or whoever it is.”

The Holloway fight is a big one for Topuria not only because he’s so recently stepped into a much brighter spotlight as UFC champ, but also because of the test it provides. With Holloway coming off his dramatic knockout of Justin Gaethje for the ceremonial BMF title at UFC 300, his star is brighter than it's been in years. His reputation is that of an unflappable professional who can be beaten only by the very best, and even then just barely.

Topuria, however, has never been known for lacking confidence. He correctly predicted an early knockout of Volkanovski, and he doesn’t expect Holloway to be much more of a challenge. Sure, he said, Holloway performs well when you let him fight his kind of fight in open space, employing volume punching and wearing opponents down into the later rounds. But everyone looks good when they get to do their stuff, Topuria noted. But what happens when they don’t?

“It’s not just Max, it’s anybody. When you let them put their style into a fight, they all become bigger and bigger during the fight. But when you put them against the cage, you put the right pressure and the right power and the right technique, they become smaller and smaller. This is what's going to happen in a fight between me and [Holloway]. He's going to feel something that he never felt before. The pressure, the technique, the precision he's going to feel, it's going to be completely different than the past opponents he had. I don't want even him to trust in what I'm saying, but he's going to realize it after the fight.”

Maybe the fans at home in Spain will need to have multiple screens going at once in order to appreciate it, but a win for Topuria on the same day as El Clásico would be something special. And to finish the famously resilient Holloway? It might seem like a big ask, but for Topuria it’s no more than what he’s expecting of himself.

“I know that at some point I will be able to put him against the wall,” Topuria said of Holloway. “Once it happens, he’s going to start to exchange punches with me. Then the fight is over. I just need to connect with one punch and then that’s it. And I will be able to. You will see.”