The Rise of El Matador

Ilia Topuria's path to a UFC Title Shot

At UFC 298, surging featherweight contender Ilia Topuria will face the biggest test of his career when he challenges long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski for his first shot at undisputed gold.

Topuria has blazed a path of destruction through his first six UFC fights and scored numerous highlight-reel finishes. Part of what makes him so compelling as an elite MMA talent is his blend of raw power and sharp techniques. His vicious striking has caught the eyes of fans and pundits alike – particularly the crippling intent with which he attacks the body. As well as drawing influence from boxing legends like Canelo Álvarez and Roberto Durán.

While his striking may garner the spotlight, Topuria’s base skill lies in grappling, having started in Greco-Roman wrestling before training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Spain. This facet of his game has not been as prominent in his Octagon run but remains a looming threat against all foes.

Beyond his dazzling skillset, Topuria has also built a burgeoning following among Spanish-speaking MMA fans. Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos was in attendance for Topuria’s five-round beatdown of Josh Emmett in Orlando. Such celebrity backing spotlights Topuria’s superstar potential; a championship coronation over Volkanovski could catapult him to global stardom.

Before Topuria’s date with destiny, I wanted to recap the background of his combat sports journey – from the inception of his MMA career to the threshold of ultimate achievement.

Topuria was born on 21 January 1997 to Georgian parents in Halle Westfalen, Germany. However, he would not be in the country for long, and at the age of 7, he moved back to his Parent’s homeland. It is not surprising that it is here where his martial experiences began, given the nation’s rich history in sports such as Judo. Therefore, when he arrived in Georgia, he began training in Greco-Roman Wrestling.

At the age of 15, he moved once again, but this time to Alicante in Spain; it was here that the genesis of his MMA career began by training at Climent Club at BJJ Gym in the local area. In 2018, he and his brother Alexsandre became the first Brazillian Ju Jitsu. With the proliferation of BJJ worldwide, it is easy to become sceptical of black belts, especially with the marketing incentives behind a pro-MMA fighter being a black belt. However, I don’t think this is the case with Topuria.

I found an article which describes someone's experience training at the gym, and it paints the picture of an excellent training environment in which someone as talented and gifted as Topuria would thrive. Many qualified coaches will go under the radar because they never get to coach an exceptional athlete such as Topuria.

https://sensobjj.com/blogs/graciemag-1/gym-visit-gracie-barra-climent-club

* I do not have any rights to any of the following clips; they are for educational purposes about Illia Topuria. All of these fights can be found on YouTube and UFC Fight Pass.

Part I - Topuria the Submission Grappler

Topuria made his pro-MMA debut in 2015. His grappling background heavily characterises his early fights, using wrestling entries like the double leg to go through the traditional BJJ hierarchy to the back, with two of the four finishes coming via rear naked choke. I have spent the last year competing in BJJ, which has given me an even greater appreciation for the skill shown by Topuria in these early shows. Some of which I hope to emulate in my own game. While he is undoubtedly a phenomenal talent, it is a credit to his training situation that he is so well-schooled in BJJ. Earning his black belt by age 18 was not a gimmick belt.

#1 April 4, 2015 vs Francisco Javier Asprilla

The camera angle is shoddy, but Topuria locks in a triangle choke from side control. I know his opponent, who fought Manel Kape on the regional scene. Even though it appears apparent that Topuria enjoyed a weight advantage, he showed slick BJJ to set it up and finish a stellar debut.

#2 May 9, 2015 vs Kalil Martin El Chalibi

His 2nd win follows the more traditional hierarchy approach and a winning strategy for a BJJ completion mentioned earlier. He goes for the double and, once in side control, moves his weight back to the hips. When the opponent turns in, he takes the back and works towards the rear-naked choke. This may sound very simple, but execution is the critical component, which is impressive given his age.

#3 7 May 2016, vs Daniel Vasquez

In a similar vein to his last win, Topuria pursues the double leg to get to side control; however, in this instance, he uses knee on belly to pass into the mount; the addition of strikes means that his opponent turns away, and the back presents itself leading once again to a finish via Rear-Naked Choke.

#4 5 November 2016, vs Jhon Guarin

In this contest, Topuria tries to jump onto the back, but he does so without his hook; thus, he falls back onto the ring ropes. Instead, he goes for and finishes a guillotine choke. While it is an excellent submission, I am glad that this is not a common tactical choice for Topuria; any Dustin Porier fan can tell you about the perils of jumping for gillies.

Part II - Prototype Topuria

Topuria took a break between fights, representing a significant evolution in his style. It’s a testament to his technical development. While there are grappling-heavy performances here, we begin to see the outline of the fighter we would recognise from the UFC.

I did not mention his striking in his early fights, but he employed a karate stance but not to any natural effect; his shift to a boxing style led to this leap in his striking ability. Using his burgeoning craft to pummel opponents into his submission game, or what is more crudely referred to as club and sub. Eventually, his striking would develop so that fans would not know about his grappling base.

#5 - April 28, 2018 vs Mika Hamalainen

Topuria’s first fight outside of Spain took place in Finland. Here, we see the prototypical Topuria. You can see the blueprint for his punch selection early on: throwing out the jab, countering with the right, and going for the left hook.

This finish is the essence of club and sub, pouncing on the opponent as soon as he turtles. Beautiful finish.

#6 - 16 June 2018, vs Brian Bouland

This fight has a lot of strange circumstances around it. It was for the Cage Warriors title, which makes it meaningful. However, it was for the bantamweight title. This is odd as Topuria is a well-built 145 who fought at 155 in the UFC. It may be a case of a boy becoming a man, but he missed weight and was ineligible for the belt.

Thus, we are left with Topuria, the weight bully, and poor Bouland. Toputia took full advantage of this, sending Bouland to sleep with an anaconda choke. Suffocating submission grappling once again.

#7 - 7 September 2019 vs Luis Gomez

Topuria takes a step back in completion when he faces a debuting fighter in Columbia who has not fought since. I cannot say why Topuria took this fight; I would guess it was a stay-busy fight. He scores a mounted triangle armbar in 1:15, a dominant performance but seemingly a total mismatch.

#8 - 15 November 2019 vs Stephen Goncalves

The final & most crucial fight of Topuria’s pre-UFC showed great strengths and potential weaknesses. Topuria is dropped with a head kick early on vs a lanky opponent, which also occurred later on vs Jai Herbert. This could be a threat in a match-up with kick-heavy Mexican Yair Rodrigeuz.

What is more important and telling of success is how a fighter responds. Topuria rallied and scored a sickening KO in the same round, unlocking the dynamite in his hands and rounding out his development into a threat both striking and on the mat.

Part III - Arrival in the UFC

#9 October 11, 2020 vs Youssef Zalal

Topuria makes his UFC debut on eight days’ notice vs Zalal. It is a shame his early UFC fights were not in front of a crowd, but that was the pandemic. Given the short notice, he largely defaults to his baseline skillset, the grappling. He comes close to scoring a submission at various points but does not get it done.

This performance is an outlier compared to the following five fights, but I think the short notice does enough to explain this. He goes the distance for the first time in his MMA career to win via UD (29–28, 29–28, 29–28). My criticism of the performance speaks to the high regard I hold Topuria more than anything else.

#10 December 5, 2020 vs Damon Jackson

This was the point at which I jumped on the Topuria Hype Train. I happened upon the fight past prelims one night, and what I saw left a lasting impression on me.

The finishing combo is one of my favourites in UFC history. Topuria blasts the body, setting up the right hand to cripple Damon Jackson. Body punching is becoming more commonplace in MMA, but the venom of Illia Topuria makes this finish so distinct.

Damon Jackson is no world-beater, but he is a competent UFC featherweight; this is what an elite fighter does in these match-ups. After this fight, I knew Topuria would go far in the UFC.

#11 10 July 2021 vs Ryan Hall at UFC 264

Is there anything as sweet in MMA as saying I told you so?

I was well on the Topuria hype train after the Jackson fight. When I heard this fight was booked, I saw it for what was a hit job. The UFC wanted to assassinate the annoying BJJ nerd they could not find fights for, and there was no better option than the Georgian Hitman.

At my BJJ gym, people were saying how Ryan Hall would use his leg entanglements to get another finish against an unknown fighter. I knew that Topruia had the power in his hands and the grappling acumen to navigate the entanglements, so I was confident going into it.

The contest was bizarre; Hall repeatedly goes for predictable leg entries while Rogan propagates the mysticism around Hall, and his wizardry, which will not be unfounded, was entirely out of place in the context of an MMA fight—completely disregarding the threat of Topuria. Near the end of the Round, Topuria gets around Hall’s legs and brutally knocks him out.

Part IV - Featherweight Contender

The win vs Hall put Topuria on the map as a force in the featherweight division, but many hurdles lay ahead on the path to a title fight. He was initially booked to fight fellow rising featherweight Movsar Evoloev at UFC 270. He currently rides an 8-fight-win streak and, I suspect, will meet Illia in the future. Unfortunately, Movsar withdrew from this booking, and Topuria accepted a short-notice fight with Charles Jourdain. However, this fight did not materialise as Topuria had a medical issue that impeded his weight cut, and the fight was cancelled. This context is essential as it explains his next booking.

#12 19 March 2022 vs Jai Herbert

Given the above context, this can be seen as a stay-busy fight after the botched weight cut. Topuria wanted to stay active even if it meant going up a weight division and fighting a giant lightweight.

In fight #8, Topuria had trouble with the long-range strikes of Goncalves, and these problems reemerged in his fight with Jai Herbert, who is a middle-of-the-road 155er but would enjoy a significant reach advantage; the booking had inherent danger in being a division up and being against an opponent who could pose more problems than you would initially think.

This worry manifested in the first round when Illia was badly dropped with a high kick and almost finished. Eating a flush head kick is not good, but the response to adversity like this can say a lot about a fighter. The fact that Topuria’s confidence was not shaken speaks to an intangible level of grit necessary at the higher levels of MMA, but I fear a head kick will be his undoing at some point.

The finishing combination is a work of savage art, going to the body to set up the headshot and, avoiding what could have been an embarrassing slip-up and creating a highlight reel finish.

#13 10 December 2022, vs Bryce Mithcell

Topuria returned to his featherweight campaign and was initially booked to Edson Barboza in the summer of 2022; however, Edson pulled out of the fight. The kicking of Barboza may have been an issue, but I suspect the pressure and boxing of Topuria would have made it a one-sided fight.

Instead, he would face Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282. Bryce has some insane opinions about the flat earth, but despite this, he is an intelligent fighter and a solid grappler. However, I called this fight to end via club and sub as I did not think he would have the stand-up to limit Topuria.

Bryce successfully got Illia to respond to his strikes, pumping the jab and causing Topuria to overreact, but he was unable to build upon this. There is a window of opportunity here for Volkanovski, who is the master of building off an opponent's reactions and punishing them.

However, despite being taken down in Round 1, Illia could bull into Mitchell and unleash a barrage of punches, dropping him with a beautiful combination. Once again, Topuria's career was a black mark for the commentary of Joe Rogan; I was so baffled when he thought it was his mistake to pursue Bryce to the mat—evidencing his complete lack of preparation. Topuria secured an arm triangle submission against a battered Bryce to march further up the division.

#14 24 June 2023 vs Josh Emmett

This was Topuria’s first main event and a critical moment in his journey as a title contender. Josh Emmett is not at the top of the food chain, but he has hovered near the top of the division for several years, and those who beat him usually have to go through adversity.

Topuria battered Emmett over five rounds, even scoring the elusive 10-7 round in the 4th. I maintain that a sensible corner would have thrown in the towel, but to his credit, Emmett endured a hellacious beating.

What I found most impressive about Topuria in the fight was his patience and composure, which made me even more bullish on Topuria as a championship-level fighter. He may have gotten overzealous in Round 3, but that aside, he was constantly probing Emmett with the jab to set up his array of counters. I learnt from Jack Slack that Topuria was using what is known as a lazy jab, a technique used by Roberto Durán. Essentially, it means jabbing in the pocket to provoke the opponent's response and countering them. I will link below for Jack’s explanations, but it helped me to understand and appreciate this performance.

Using the technique mentioned above, Topuria could dictate the dynamic of the fight and once again land some of his signature combinations. Despite not getting the finish, Topuria showed great maturity going for the takedown in Round 5, which speaks to his understanding of what the fight requires at a given moment.

Beating Josh Emmett in itself is not what is impressive. The comprehensive way Topruia did it makes his match-up with Volkanovski all the more compelling. One basic observation for me was Emmett's lack of leg attacks, which I am certain Volkanovski will bring into the upcoming showdown. Topuria has been training with fellow Georgian Guram Kutateladze to prepare for this. It remains a dimension of the fight that will be critical to the outcome.

Conclusion

In summary, that is the MMA career of Illia Topuria so far. I have made many career threads over the years, and I rank his amongst the ones I have enjoyed making the most regarding finishes and overall developments. I predict that he will become the champion at UFC 298, and I will elaborate on the rationale in a thread later this week. But even if he were to lose, I hope people do not dismiss him as a hype job; if Volk beats him, it is a significant feather in his cap, given his age.

It is one of the best fights of 2024 and grabs my attention like no other. I am still in disbelief that I will witness this fight in person, and I look forward to writing about the outcome after the fact.