Ilia Topuria has followed up on his word. By knocking out incumbent champion Alexander Volkanovski on Saturday night, he's now become exactly what his Instagram biography has famously displayed: An undefeated UFC champion.
Volkanovski was looking to rebound from a second loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, but instead suffered his third loss in four fights. Topuria took the title off Volkanovski via a beautiful four-punch combination that found its mark late in round two of five.
Volkanovski, who had his back against the fence, stepped towards Topuria with a jab. Topuria slipped to the outside and landed a right hand to the body, which he followed with a damaging left hook and straight right hand that both found Volkanovski's head.
Instead of continuing to throw punches, both fighters ducked and reached out with their lead hands. They grabbed each other around others' head as an attempt to find the correct range, after which both threw right hooks.
Topuria's right hook landed hard, snapping Volkanovski's head to the side and sending him to the canvas in a heap. Topuria landed another left hook as Volkanovski fell, but it was already over. Volkanovski suffered additional damage as Topuria unloaded more shots against his prone opponent, at which point referee Jason Herzog stopped the fight.
The result makes Topuria the first person from both Georgia and Spain to become UFC champion. Born in Germany, Topuria moved to Georgia at age seven. He moved again to Alicante, Spain, at age 15. Topuria represents both Spain and Georgia but is officially listed as Georgian on the UFC roster.
Despite being listed as Georgian, Topuria is now eyeing a title defense in Spain's capital city of Madrid. His primary goal is apparently the Santiago Bernabéu, the home of the famous Real Madrid football club. A UFC event in Spain would be the country's first.
The possibility of an event at the Bernabéu, which can seat more than 80,000 fans even with a football pitch at the stadium's bottom, has already gathered attention. Real Madrid's official Instagram account congratulated Topuria following his win, and UFC President Dana White publicly acknowledged an interest in such an event.
It seems that currently, the biggest question in Topuria's future is in regards to his next opponent. Volkanovski's long and dominant reign at featherweight saw him defeat every current top-ranked featherweight, leaving Topuria without a clear challenger. At this point, the only viable option is probably Movsar Evloev.
The Russian Evloev is sporting an undefeated 18-0 record following his January win ovver fellow contender Arnold Allen. He's 30 years old, which isn't particularly young or old in UFC terms. Despite an attractive record and plenty of experience, I don't think he's ready for a title shot. His last eight wins have all come by decision, and he's yet to beat an established UFC star. Fan interest needs to grow before Evloev takes the spotlight.
The lack of a prominent contender might allow Volkanovski the rematch he's publicly pursued since his defeat, especially if Topuria's first defense is a high-caliber showdown in a Spanish venue like the Bernabéu. We'll likely have to wait until at least UFC 301 to see Topuria fight again, but a Volkanovski rematch would likely happen sooner than a Topuria defense against a new challenger.
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