While Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway were busy swallowing up the headlines, Ilia Topuria was making his way up the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight mountain. He reached the top in 2024, shedding his contender designation for that of a champion and pound-for-pound ace.

Topuria has rattled off 16 consecutive wins to start his career, 14 of them finishes. He last saw action at UFC 308, where he retained his undisputed featherweight title and cut down the previously indestructible Holloway with punches in the third round of their Oct. 26 main event. It was the first knockout loss of the Hawaiian’s remarkable 34-fight career. Topuria enters his 2025 campaign with something of a blank check, though he appears ready, willing and able to move up to 155 pounds to challenge reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at some point.

As Topuria awaits word on his next assignment from UFC matchmakers, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:

27: Years of age for Topuria, who was born on Jan. 21, 1997 in Halle, Germany.

6: Topuria victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 37% of his career total (16). His list of UFC victims: Holloway, Volkanovski, Jai Herbert, Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson. Topuria holds eight other victories by submission (50%) and two more by decision (13%).

308: Days spent by Topuria as undisputed featherweight champion. He laid claim to the title with a stunning second-round knockout of Volkanovski—it was the Aussie’s first loss at 145 pounds—in the UFC 298 main event on Feb. 17.

5,818: Miles between where Topuria trains at the Climent Club in Alicante, Spain, and Ultimate Fighting Championship headquarters in Las Vegas.

152: Significant strikes landed by Topuria in a five-round unanimous decision over Team Alpha Male’s Josh Emmett at UFC on ABC 5 in June 2023. It established a new personal high-water mark for “El Matador” that still stands.

63: Seconds needed for Topuria to put away Kalil Martin El Chalibi under the Climent MMA banner on May 9, 2015. Nearly a decade later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

11: Takedowns completed by Topuria as a member of the UFC roster. He has done so on 18 attempts, giving him a 61% success rate.

250,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses pocketed by Topuria across his eight appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” four times and “Fight of the Night” once.

8: Countries in which Topuria has suited up as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 5-0 in the United States, 4-0 in Spain, 2-0 in the United Arab Emirates, 1-0 in Finland, 1-0 in Belgium, 1-0 in Colombia, 1-0 in Bahrain and 1-0 in England.

.792: Cumulative winning percentage between the eight men—Holloway, Volkanovski, Emmett, Bryce Mitchell, Hall, Jackson and Youssef Zalal—Topuria has beaten since he linked arms with the UFC in 2020. They boast a combined record of 149-38-3.