UFC
‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria Boasts Perfect 16-0 MMA Record & Is The Reigning UFC Featherweight King
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Get to know Paul Kelly betterPublished26 Oct 2024
As the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion and one of the hottest properties in the sport of MMA, we decided to take a deep dive into the career of Ilia Topuria. Read on to find out more about his the Ilia Topuria record, his full MMA resumé and how many finishes he has.
Ilia Topuria Record
Ilia Topuria turned professional back in April 2015 with a debut victory against Francisco Javier Asprilla in Valencia, Spain. Since then, Topuria has had another 15 professional MMA fights, winning each and every one of them.
Despite only having had 16 fights, Topuria’s career has been nothing short of magnificent to date. The Spanish-Georgian MMA phenom boasts a perfect record of 16-0. Of these 16 victories, he has won 14 of them inside the distance. ‘El Matador’ has eight submission wins under his belt, as well as six big knockouts.
His career up to now has been sensational, and he has barely even got started. Two fights ago, ‘El Matador’ became UFC Featherweight Champion at the first time of asking as he emphatically stopped long-reigning king Alexander Volkanovski for his 145-pound strap at UFC 298.
Topuria was understandably the underdog with the best UFC betting sites to become UFC champion at the first time of asking. Topuria became the first man to ever defeat ‘The Great’ at featherweight in the UFC, which he did in sensational fashion with a quite exquisite knockout.
He then emphatically stopped former champion Max Holloway, the first person to ever know ‘Blessed’ out, in the first defence of his 145-pound world title. More on these bouts a little later.
RELATED: Ilia Topuria Net Worth, Career Earnings & Endorsements
As previously mentioned, Ilia Topuria made his professional MMA debut around 10 years ago. He was on a West Coast Warriors card where he made the perfect start to his career by winning via submission in the very first round of the contest. Topuria then had seven more fights as a pro MMA fighter before signing a deal with the UFC.
‘El Matador’ came into the UFC with quite the reputation. He was signed as an 8-0 upcoming star, with all eight of his wins coming via stoppage. The Spanish MMA star made his UFC debut back in October 2020, winning the fight via unanimous decision and kickstarting his career in the UFC.
UFC President Dana White threw Topuria in at the deep end from the get-go, getting him to step up fight on fight. His second fight in the UFC came just two months after his first, where he knocked out Damon Jackson in Round 1 of their 145-pound contest.
Next up was Ryan Hall for Ilia Topuria. Again, the 27-year-old won the fight in the very first round. This meant he won the fight via knockout once again, extending the Ilia Topuria record to 11-0 with three knockouts and seven submissions.
After Hall came another big step up against Jai Herbert. Topuria once again rose to the occasions, winning the fight via knockout in the second round to silence the pro-Herbert British crowd. He then defeated Bryce Mitchell via triangle choke at UFC 282 in Las Vegas, well and truly putting the world on notice.
RELATED: Who Is Ilia Topuria’s Wife?
Next up was UFC veteran Josh Emmett, who himself had big title aspirations and who was on a great run. Ilia Topuria defeated Emmett via unanimous decision, earning himself a shot at UFC gold in the process.
Then came his crowning night as Topuria defeated Alexander Volkanovski to claim the UFC 145-pound strap in emphatic style at UFC 298. Topuria stopped Volkanovski in Round 2 of the bout, knocking the Aussie unconscious and becoming the first man to ever beat ‘The Great’ at featherweight. Talk about making a statement, Ilia Topuria made one of the biggest of the lot!
In his first defence last time out, Topuria then became the first man ever to knock Max Holloway out. ‘El Matador’ defeated Holloway via KO in Round 3 of their main event bout at UFC 308, defending his UFC Featherweight Title for the first time in the process. Ilia Topuria is widely regarded as one of the best fighters on the entire UFC roster right now.
That takes us up to now in the career of Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria. He will likely go into all of his fights as the huge favourite with the best UK bookmakers, given how impressive he looked against Volkanovski and Holloway respectively. You certainly wouldn’t bet against him retaining his title for a very long time.
Be sure to claim the various combat sports betting offers and free bet deals available on the SportsCasting site ahead of Ilia Topuria’s next fight.