As the new 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 MMA record, his UFC record and how many finishes he has on his resumé.
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 14 professional MMA fights, winning each and every one of them.
Despite only having had 15 fights, Topuria’s career has been nothing short of magnificent to date. The Spanish MMA phenom boasts a perfect record of 15-0. Of these 15 victories, he has won 13 of them inside the distance. ‘El Matador’ has eight submission wins under his belt, as well as five big knockouts.
His career up to now has been sensational, and he has barely even got started. Last time out, ‘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. He wass priced at +105 to become the first man to ever defeat ‘The Great’ at featherweight in the UFC, which he did in sensational fashion.
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As previously mentioned, Ilia Topuria made his professional MMA debut around nine 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. Topuria won the fight via knockout, extending his 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 also received a ‘Performance Of The Night’ bonus for his Round 2 KO.
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Topuria was once again handed a big step up, this time against the ranked Bryce Mitchell on the main card of UFC 282 in December 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Once again, Topuria stepped up to the plate and added to his collection of UFC bonuses with yet another ‘Performance Of The Night’.
Topuria submitted Mitchell in Round 2 via triangle choke, really making a name for himself and throwing his name into the conversation as an upcoming UFC Featherweight Title challenger. 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!
That takes us up to now in the career of Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria. He will likely go into his next fight as the huge favorite with the best US sportsbooks, given how impressive he looked against Volkanovski. You certainly wouldn’t bet against him retaining his title.
Be sure to claim the various sports betting apps bonuses and UFC free bets available on the SportsLens site ahead of Topuria’s next fight.
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