MMA
The faces of the Spanish Matador’s latest ‘hugs’ have gone viral on social media! Will Ilia Topuria get a title shot or will he face a legend?
Recent opponents of the undefeated Spanish Matador have taken a huge beating, and Ilia Topuria is rightfully calling for a UFC featherweight title shot. What are the options for his next fight at the moment?
Recent opponents of the undefeated Spanish Matador have taken a huge beating, and Ilia Topuria is rightfully calling for a UFC featherweight title shot. What are the options for his next fight at the moment?
Topuria is a serious problem, the faces of his opponents confirm it
Ilia Topuria is becoming one of Dana White’s hottest acquisitions. The Spanish-Georgian matador is mowing down one opponent after another and rising to the top of the world rankings. Rightfully so, he’s calling for a title shot in the UFC featherweight division.
Still undefeated with a record of 14-0, twelve wins before the limit, the main event of the UFC’s gala. Ilia Topuria is a serious problem for the featherweight division and his performances have been on a steady upward trend in terms of quality and fighting skills.
In December, he was able to stop the previously undefeated Bryce Mitchell in the second round. The UFC management thus gave him the top five of the division and the dangerous veteran Josh Emmett.
He took on the latter in the main event of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night gala in Jacksonville, Florida, and it was a great show. Topuria demolished his opponent for the entire five rounds with a patient but effective stance. So it was no surprise to anyone that he was the one who had his hand raised at the end of the fight.
The Spanish Matador’s dominance was so pronounced that one scoring judge even awarded him the fourth round by a 10-7 score. That’s a pretty unique round scoring, especially if he was able to get it against a top five ranked opponent.
On the other hand, Emmett showed incredible resilience as he endured five full rounds of insane beating, which of course showed on his bloodied face. Incidentally, a photo of four of Topuria’s recent opponents went viral on social media. Judge for yourself.
Will the Spanish Matador get a title shot or a UFC legend?
The UFC organization has updated the rankings and Topuria has jumped to the fifth spot of the featherweight division just in place of the defeated Emmett. Despite having four fighters ahead of him and champion Volkanovski, he already feels like a legitimate title challenger, which he confirmed in an interview right in the octagon.
With champion Alexander Volkanovski defending his belt against interim titleholder Yair Rodriguez in early July, Topuria could wait to see the winner of the match. However, at the post-tournament press conference, he did offer a possible option for another fight if the title shot doesn’t work out.
“I’m next, I can wait. One of my best skills is patience,” Topuria said after the win. “But if they offer me to fight Max Holloway in Spain, let’s do it. If not, I’ll wait for my title shot.”
The idea of a fight with a legend and a number two ranked player would surely entice fans and Dana White himself. But Holloway already has a fight with “The Korean Zombie” scheduled for August. So it will be interesting to see how the situation in the division will eventually develop.
Source: UFC, Instagram – Combatalk
