Ilia Topuria has made his name undeniable in the UFC. The UFC featherweight champion has become one of the most talked about names in the sport in recent times. Currently boasting a professional record of 16-0, Topuria became the featherweight champion by beating Alexander Volkanovski.

To make his first title defense, Topuria returned to the octagon recently to square off against Max Holloway. Interestingly, he managed to knock out Holloway as well and became the first person to stop ‘Blessed’. After securing two knockout victories against two of the greatest featherweights to have ever fought, Topuria has quickly become a fan favorite. Moreover, fans are even comparing him to Conor McGregor. That said, let’s take a deeper look into both of their careers and their recent spat.

The Journey of Ilia Topuria

Born on January 21, 1997, Ilia Topuria started training in wrestling at the age of seven. At the age of 15, when his family moved to Spain, Topuria started to train MMA and made his professional debut at the age of 18 in 2015. He racked up 8 wins all by stoppages before being signed by the UFC in 2020.

In his UFC debut, he faced Youssef Zalal and secured his first unanimous decision in 2020. After putting on a string of impressive performances, he finally got his title shot against Alexander Volkanovski in February 2024. In what was his toughest test, Topuria knocked out Volkanovski to become the new featherweight champion. Later, he also beat Holloway to defend his UFC featherweight title.

The Journey of Conor McGregor

Born on 14, July 1988 in a humble family, Conor McGregor is currently one of the biggest names in the world of combat sports. However, it wasn’t an easy journey for McGregor. While he started training boxing at a young age to learn how to self-defense, this ultimately grew the passion for fighting McGregor and he began training in MMA in 2006. Just a year later, McGregor made his professional debut.

Five years after he made his professional debut, Conor McGregor was brought on by the UFC in 2013. Upon his UFC debut, it was clear that something was different about the Irishman and it began to show in the fights to come. The Irishman secured wins in six of his first seven fights in the UFC by stoppages and also became the UFC featherweight champion in the process.

Later, McGregor also won the UFC lightweight championship and became the first person to hold two belts at once in the UFC.

Will Conor McGregor and Ilia Topuria fight?

After seeing the recent run of Ilia Topuria many have started to compare Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor with many even calling him the next McGregor. Interestingly, the two don’t seem to like each other at all.

Topuria and McGregor have locked horns multiple times on the internet while sharing their disregard for each other. Even after Topuria’s most recent win over Holloway, McGregor was quite vocal about how he would want to beat Topuria.

Moreover, many experts have even called for a fight between Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor in UFC’s first event in Spain. However, a fight between the two is extremely unlikely because Topuria is not likely to go up to welterweight and McGregor does not seem to be coming back to lightweight which is the maximum that the featherweight champion moves up to.

Conclusion

It is safe to say that Ilia Topuria is one of the biggest stars in the UFC right now. The UFC featherweight champion holds star power and has the ability to attract eyeballs. Moreover, he also backs his words like prime Conor McGregor. As of now, Topuria’s stardom can be compared to that of McGregor following his victory over Jose Aldo.

That said, is worth noting that Ilia Topuria is just 27 years old right now and has a lot of time still. Topuria can book fights against a lot of people that would help him further strengthen his chances of becoming a global superstar like Conor McGregor. It will be interesting to see if Topuria can imitate or even surpass the level of popularity McGregor gained post his fight against Jose Aldo.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter