If Ilia Topuria’s takeover feels novel, that’s because it is
It’s perhaps too soon to say that Ilia Topuria has cleaned out the featherweight division, but it’s tempting. Alexander Volkanovski held the title for 1,525 days before Ilia came along and took it in February. Before Ilia, Max Holloway — the man Topuria became the first to knock out on Saturday at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi — ruled for 1,099 days going back to when he won the interim in 2016 at UFC 206.
All told that’s 2,624 days of featherweight dictatorship — or just over seven freaking years — that “El Matador” has casually overthrown in 2024. Topuria’s arrival on the scene isn’t merely a sensation for those who’ve been waiting for the emergence of a new superstar, it’s a full-blown takeover. A revolution by a German-born Spaniard/Georgian, who at 5-foot-7 only happens to be a couple of inches taller than Napoleon. (You might remember that Napoleon only needed a day to get his point across at the Battle of Austerlitz, which is hard to top.)
It's not that we didn’t see Topuria coming. When he treated Ryan Hall’s imanari rolls like a complement to his sashimi, we had a glimpse. A poised fighter who barely breaks a sweat, waiting for the right moment to smash a hellbent groundplayer. He was on Bryce Mitchell like camouflage. How would he handle the punching power of the dangerously underrated Josh Emmett? With ease as it turns out. One judge gave him a scorecard of 50-42, which somehow felt sympathetic if we’re being honest.
But these last two wins? Against Volkanovski and now Holloway, the stronghold kings of the weight class? Becoming the first fighter to beat Volkanovski in the featherweight division after 13 straight wins? The first to knock Holloway out in 29 UFC fights, against every manner of killer ever produced? Nobody has gone through fire like that before to kick off their title reign. Not even Jon Jones, who was blasting through light heavyweight relics when he first got rolling.
Topuria’s treating this young sport’s Hall of Famers like playthings — just trifling human puzzles that he’s being tasked to solve in a 25-minute time frame.
That’s 2,624 days of featherweight dictatorship — or just over seven freaking years — that Topuria has casually overthrown in 2024. His arrival on the scene isn’t merely a sensation, it’s a full-blown takeover.
Not that Holloway wasn’t game. You knew he would be. Holloway established his range throughout the fight, using his jab and oblique kicks and the occasional zinger on the follow-up. He was holding his own, it seemed, as he made it clear that Topuria would need to find him way inside if he was going to demonstrate his fabled power. Topuria took some shots, and yet he began to invade that space as the fight went on, hands quick and movements slick. The threat of him landing a big shot increased as the fight went out. Therefore, he held the sense of escalation, which in a main event is everything. The countdown to that good old fight game hysteria, which would crash home in time with Topuria’s left hand.
We got it in the third round, when Topuria landed a thundering left hook, which floored one of the game’s most beloved figures. The fight was over in a blink, and dreams of old Madrid flooded the Etihad. And that’s how Topuria defended his title for the first time. By dropping jaws.
Of course, even given the historic meaning of the foes he beat, a single title defense isn’t really cleaning out the division. Volkanovski, who had five title defenses and fought as often as the UFC requested, deserves another crack at that belt. More than likely, that’s who Topuria will face next. There are others coming up who would fill out the marquee. Diego Lopes is out there, yet still feels like he’s a win away. The winner of Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev could be in play, if not for Topuria then for Lopes to establish a No. 1 contender.
There are always people coming. But right now, it feels like they can’t be seen from where Topuria stands. He is high atop the featherweight pile, holding his belt aloft for everyone to see, along with the BMF title that he so gleefully assumed in the aftermath of UFC 308. The UFC could book him into a superfight and nobody would mind much, because everyone within a two-weight class radius wants a piece of Topuria. Sean O’Malley dreams of that fight one day. Conor McGregor? He wants somebody to call him, even if it means he’ll need to saw off a leg to meet Topuria at a catchweight.
Islam Makhachev? Sitting out there like an extension of Holloway’s chin.
The future is bright for Topuria, who is just 27 years old and not yet in his prime. Tomorrow has arrived for Spain’s greatest seer. It turns out the guy who posted on social media that he would be the champion before beating Volk and proclaimed he’d be the first to knockout Holloway is not only a killer but a keeper of his word. We don’t see that kind of honesty often in the fight game, nor that kind of braggadocio.
Yet as Muhammad Ali said, it’s not bragging if you can back it up.
