Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria (ილია თოფურია; born January 21, 1997) is a Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist.

He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Featherweight Champion.

As of February 20, 2024, he is #5 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

Topuria was born in Halle Westfalen, Germany to Georgian parents.

At the age of seven, Topuria moved to Georgia with his family and started practicing Greco-Roman Wrestling at a local school.

At the age of 15, he again relocated to live in Alicante in Spain, where he started practicing martial arts at the Climent Club.

In 2015, he made his debut as a professional in local competitions.

Topuria has an older brother, Alexsandre, who is also a professional mixed martial artist signed to the UFC.

After starting his career with four 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.

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.

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 won his second fight in BRAVE by defeating Steven Goncalves by KO in the first round.

Topuria, as a replacement for Seung Woo Choi, took a bout on short notice against Youssef Zalal on October 11, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen.

Topuria won the fight via unanimous decision.

Topuria faced Damon Jackson 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.

He won the fight via knockout in round one.

Topuria was scheduled to face Movsar Evloev on January 22, 2022, at UFC 270.

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

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, replacing Mike Davis, on March 19, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 204.

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 award.

Topuria was scheduled to face Edson Barboza on October 29, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 213.

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

Topuria faced Bryce Mitchell on December 10, 2022, at UFC 282.

He won the fight via submission in round two.

This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Topuria was initially scheduled to face Josh Emmett on June 17, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 47.

However, the promotion later announced that the bout was shifted to headline UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria on June 24, 2023.

He won the fight via unanimous decision.

The bout earned him the Fight of the Night award.

Topuria was scheduled to face Alexander Volkanovski on January 20, 2024, for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 297.

However, Volkanovski was instead pulled to face Islam Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 294.

As a result, this fight was pushed back one month to headline UFC 298 on February 17, 2024.