Ilia Topuria ( ka, ილია თოფურია) (born January 21, 1997) is a Georgian and Spanish

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

and

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

divisions of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. As of December 13, 2022, he is #9 in the UFC featherweight rankings.

Background

Topuria was born in Halle Westfalen, Germany to Georgian parents. At the age of seven he moved to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

with his family where he started practicing

Greco-Roman Wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

at school. At the age of 15 he moved to live in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

in Spain, where he started practicing martial arts at the Climent Club. In 2015, he made his debut as a professional in local competitions.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After starting his career with 4 straight submission wins on the Spanish regional scene and winning a belt in Mix Fight Events promotion. In 2018 he made his first international fight in Cage MMA Finland. In the same year, in May, he became the first Georgian black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu alongside his brother Alex Topuria. Months later he received the opportunity to fight for the Cage Warriors Bantamweight Championship at the Lotto Arena in

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. Ilia failed to make the agreed weight so despite winning the fight quickly, he did not get the belt. In 2019 he signed with

Brave Combat Federation BRAVE Combat Federation is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in the Middle East. The organization was established on 23 September 2016 by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. BRAVE Combat Federation features mixed martial artists from mor ...

. Ilia made his debut in the promotion in Bogota, Colombia, defeating opponent Luis Gomez in the first round by submission; which leads him to get the award for best performance of the night. On November 15, 2019, in Bahrain, he wins his second fight in BRAVE by defeating Steven Goncalves by KO in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Topuria, as a replacement for

Seung Woo Choi Choi Seung-woo ( ko, 최승우; born November 3, 1992), often anglicized Seung Woo Choi, is a Korean mixed martial artist (MMA). Choi was the former Top Fighting Championship Featherweight Champion (Two times) and 2010 Bronze medalist at Muay ...

, took a bout on short notice against

Youssef Zalal Youssef Zalal (born September 4, 1996) is a Moroccan mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life Zalal grew up fighting other kids on the streets of Morocco. His mother put him ...

on October 11, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen. Topuria won the fight via unanimous decision. Topuria faced

Damon Jackson Damon Blake Jackson (born August 8, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2012, Jackson competed for Bellator MMA and King of the Cag ...

on December 5, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori. He won the fight via knockout in round one. Topuria faced Ryan Hall on July 10, 2021, at

UFC 264 ''UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 10, 2021 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ...

. He won the fight via knockout in round one. Topuria was scheduled to face

Movsar Evloev Movsar Evloev (born February 11, 1994) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who is currently competing in the featherweight division of the UFC. A professional since 2014, he has also competed at M-1 Global, where he is the former bantamweight ch ...

on January 22, 2022, at

UFC 270 ''UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 22, 2022 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background A UFC Heavyweight Championship title unificati ...

. However, Evloev withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by

Charles Jourdain Charles Jourdain (born November 27, 1995) is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who is currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Featherweight division. He was previously a TKO Major League MMA Double Champion, wi ...

. However, Topuria was pulled from the card due to a medical issue related to cutting weight and the bout was cancelled. Topuria faced

Jai Herbert Jai Herbert (born 13 May 1988) is an English mixed martial artist who currently fights as a lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Cage Warriors lightweight champion and also competed in BAMMA. Background Herbert ...

, replacing Mike Davis, on March 19, 2022, at

UFC Fight Night 204 ''UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 204'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 62'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 19, 2022 at The O2 Arena in Lo ...

. Topuria suffered a knockdown from a head kick in round one, but recovered and won the fight via knockout in round two. With this win, he received the ''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. Topuria was scheduled to face

Edson Barboza Edson Barboza Jr. (born January 21, 1986) is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has formerly competed at li ...

on October 29, 2022, at

UFC Fight Night 213 ''UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Allen'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 213'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 71'' and ''UFC Vegas 63'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 29, 2022, at the UFC ...

. However, Barboza withdrew in late September due to a knee injury and the bout was cancelled. Topuria faced

Bryce Mitchell Bryce Andrew Mitchell (born October 4, 1994) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mitchell appeared in the reality television series '' ...

on December 10, 2022, at

UFC 282 ''UFC 282: Błachowicz vs. Ankalaev'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It took place on December 10, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United ...

. He won the fight via submission in round two. This win earned him the ''

'' award.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

(Two times) * Mix Fight Events ** MFE Featherweight Championship (One time) *

MMAjunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Ma ...

**2022 December Submission of the Month

Controversies

A video surfaced on January 4, 2023, that showed a man shoving Topuria a few times, which was unprovoked, in a bar in Spain, and Topuria retaliating with a few punches before the scuffle was broken up.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 13–0 ,

, Submission (arm-triangle choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:10 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 ,

, KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:07 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Ryan Hall , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:47 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Stephen Goncalves , KO (punches) , Brave CF 29 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:42 ,

Isa Town Isa Town ( ar, مدينة عيسى, ''Madīnat ʿĪsā'') is a middle class town located in Bahrain, in the north central part of the country. Etymology The name ''Isa'' refers to Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the ruler of Bahrain from 1961 to 1999 ...

, Bahrain , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Luis Gomez , Submission (triangle straight armbar) , Brave CF 26 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:15 ,

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, Colombia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Brian Bouland , Technical Submission (anaconda choke) , Cage Warriors 94 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:39 ,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Mika Hamalainen , Submission (guillotine choke) , CAGE 43 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:35 ,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jhon Guarin , Submission (guillotine choke) , Mix Fight Events 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:50 ,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Spain , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Daniel Vasquez , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Mix Fight Events , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

, Spain , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Kalil Martin El Chalibi , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Climent Show MMA 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:03 ,

, Spain , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Francisco Javier Asprilla , Submission (triangle choke) , West Coast Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:30 ,

, Spain ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Topuria, Ilia 1996 births Living people Male mixed martial artists from Georgia (country) Spanish male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Georgian emigrants to Spain Mingrelians Spanish people of Georgian descent Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Spanish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners from Georgia (country) People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu