Firmly established as one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s top prospects, Ilia Topuria now sets out to discover just how high his ceiling goes.
The undefeated featherweight will take aim at former TKO Major League MMA titleholder Charles Jourdain when they lock horns in the featured UFC 270 prelim on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Topuria has strung together three consecutive victories since joining the UFC roster a little more than a year ago. He last appeared at UFC 264, where he punched out “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 22 winner Ryan Hall in the first round of their July 10 encounter.
As Topuria approaches his latest assignment at 145 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. He discovered his true calling away from home.
Topuria was born on Jan. 21, 1997 in Halle Westfalen, Germany, a city of some 20,000 people located roughly 106 miles southwest of Berlin. His family relocated to Spain when he was still in his teens. There, Topuria put down roots with the Climent Club—the gym that oversees his training to this day.
2. Combat sports appealed to his youth.
“El Matador” made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 18 when he submitted Francisco Javier Asprilla with a triangle choke in the first round of their West Coast Warriors pairing on April 4, 2015 in Valencia, Spain. Topuria won all four of his fights as a teenager.
3. He has his flaws.
Topuria has endured his share of missteps despite his perfect 11-0 record, none more glaring than in his Cage Warriors Fighting Championship debut in 2018. He put Brian Bouland to sleep in the Cage Warriors 94 main event, but his failure to make weight the day before—he checked in at 139.4 pounds—made him ineligible for the organization’s vacant bantamweight crown.
4. His offensive reputation precedes him.
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with fight-stopping power in his hands, the Climent Club representative has secured 10 of his 11 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. The lone outlier? A unanimous decision over Youssef Zalal in his long-awaited Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 179 in October 2020.
5. He gets around.
Topuria has already fought in seven different countries as a mixed martial artist, even though he only has 11 pro bouts under his belt. Spain, Finland, Belgium, Colombia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States have all been graced by his presence at least once.