Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is undoubtedly one of the most important people in both Spain and Georgia. His achievements in the sport in such a short time are quite unprecedented in both countries.
In Spain, just over a year after officially obtaining Spanish citizenship, 'El Matador' has had a street named after him in Toledo, named "Pase Ilia Topuria". Not a lot of celebrities have streets named after them, let alone combat athletes.
Check out a video of Ilia Topuria at the ceremonial reveal of the street sign (via @ChampRDS on X):
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Fans are loving this historic moment, with @Capsizing__ saying:
"That’s real success right there 🔥🔥🔥 He will go down in Spain history"
Meanwhile, @Courtsidecom said:
"Legendary stuff"
Check out more comments below:
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Ilia Topuria vacates featherweight belt, UFC puts together new title bout
Back in February, it was announced that Ilia Topuria vacated the UFC featherweight title. In a time when champions almost always aim for the "Champ-champ" status, this move by 'El Matador' was quite surprising. After defending the belt once by knocking out the granite-chinned Max Holloway, Topuria set his sights on the 155-pound strap, owned by Islam Makhachev.
This is not the first time a champion looked up to conquer heavier weight classes. The difference with Topuria is that he had the humility and integrity to refuse to hold the featherweight division up. UFC president Dana White said that the Georgian-born Spanish fighter cited difficulties dropping to 145 pounds as the main reason. He also showed a lack of interest in the division as a whole.
Perhaps knocking out the most impossible man to knock out at 145 made the former champion realize that there are no more flags to conquer in the weight class. Now, the UFC put together a massive bout for the vacant strap.
At UFC 314 next month, former UFC featherweight champion - the man Topuria took the belt from - Alexander Volkanovski will face No. 3-ranked Diego Lopes for the vacant title.