This is Ilia Topuria, the fighter who puts Spain in the UFC elite: “I’m better than all these”

Spanish-Georgian fighter Illia Topuria26, took down world number five Josh Emmett this weekend and thus strengthening his candidacy for the title of world champion: «I know I will win. I am better than all these. My dream was always to be the best. Be a legend. I want when they talk about MMA, like it or not, they have to mention me. He flaunts the classic martial arts swagger, but in addition to talking, he also keeps his word.

Hispano-Georgian counts win every fight in his professional career (14-0) after adding another victory against Josh Emmet, fifth in the world, in the star fight in Jacksonville (Florida).

The matador wanted to knock out the American, who resisted for five rounds despite the many blows that the Alicante native gave him, especially in the fourth round when he managed to knock him down several times. Emmet’s face, a true warrior from the Octagon, was a true reflection of the punishment received by Topuria, who with this victory, by unanimous decision of the judges, places Spain in the elite of the UFC and strengthens his candidacy for the title of world champion.

“No one can match the level I have in the cage, now I want to go in search of number one. I have to fight Alexander Volkanovski (the featherweight king). His legacy is over, mine is beginning,” said the Halle (Germany)-born, Georgia-raised fighter who he has lived in Alicante since he was a teenager, where he started practicing mixed martial artsemerging discipline within martial arts, in the Climent club gym.

A viral guy outside of social media: «I know I will win. I know I am better than all of these. My dream was always to be the best. Be a legend. I want when they talk about MMA, like it or not, they have to mention me. It’s human nature to worry, but it doesn’t seem to be something that’s in the DNA of the Hispanic-Georgian jiu-jitsu black belt, who has practiced Greco-Roman wrestling for years and is already No. 5 in the UFC featherweight rankings.

«Either you kill me, or you die. And make sure you kill me because I will rise. So enjoy tonight, because tomorrow you will sleep in pain,” said the fighter in the documentary that Movistar Plus+ published at the end of April, in which there are details about his career, his relationship with his brother – also an MMA fighter – and he talks about what he has always been lifelong dream: to be world champion.

Topuria moves into the sound of the new time, where they gather hundreds of thousands of followers on social networks and raise passions through them. UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), an American company that conducts fights and a show surrounding the best fighters on the planet, is driving the masses on YouTube, and it is the competition that attracts the most followers, especially young people. Topuria is the national flagship of a sport that is becoming less of a minority in Spain.

Spectator interest is growing, surpassing even top boxing competitions. Strength, speed or aggressiveness are some of the qualities of fighters, more complete and agile when most of them train different martial arts such as Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu and wrestling or boxing. Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Israel Adesanya O ‘Nate’ Diaz sparked a boom in this sport ten years ago that continues today with other reference names such as Alexander Volkanovski, the man who rules the category Topuria aspires to.

«Fear keeps you from all good things. It takes you away from happiness, success, love. All good things are on the other side of fear. And there is no better feeling than overcoming that fear and feeling like the hero of your own story,” the fighter recently pointed out in an interview.

For Topuria, every fight is “chess, playing with the opponent’s mind, studying him perfectly and forcing him to surrender.” The fighter admits that he studies his opponent as much as possible and that it is just as important when the fight starts as it is to see what moves he makes when he is exhausted. “I look at what his natural movements are when he gets tired and then I get instructions from my team to be ready for a certain movement. And there is a mental war from which my opponent has no way out and has to give up,” he explains in a recent interview in which he says that he believes a lot in God, boasts that he is a good wine lover and against bullfighting, despite his nickname.

The man who aims to bring a UFC event to Spain admits that counting fights and sponsorships, he can earn more than 100,000 euros a month. A millionaire through and through who says he wasn’t made to lose: “I feel like I was born for success and happiness,” says the athlete who has earned more than a million euros in the last two years and shares his life with businesswoman Giorgina Uzcategui Badell, creator of the company Future & Energy, which deals in the sale of water purification systems.