Ilia Topuria added another highlight-reel knockout to his resume at UFC 317.
After taking over the featherweight division with back-to-back KOs of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, ‘El Matador’ conquered another weight class on Saturday night, securing an epic first-round finish of Charles Oliveira to capture the vacant lightweight world title.
As if moving to a perfect 17-0 wasn’t impressive enough, Topuria’s last three wins inside the Octagon have even the most fickle of fight fans believing that ‘El Matador’ may very well be the best P4P mixed martial artist on the planet right now.
“It’s amazing. It’s difficult to explain with simple words,” Topuria told reporters during his post-fight interview. “Beating guys like Volk, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira—not many people in the world can say that. What’s amazing is not just the way I perform, but the fact that I called my shot right the whole time. I said I was going to knock him out in the first round.”
What’s Next For Ilia Topuria?
What’s next for Topuria remains to be seen, though if he gets his way, it’ll be a long-awaited clash with rising title contender Paddy Pimblett.
Topuria and Pimblett engaged in a heated staredown immediately following the UFC 317 headliner, an encounter that left Dana White fuming.
“That’s not the fight,” White said after Topuria and Pimblett squared up. “It shouldn’t happen. I don’t give a sh*t if it was fun to watch or not. That shouldn’t happen. Plus, he wins a second title in a higher division. It was a bad call by whoever the hell let them in there.”
Recently, middleweight titleholder Dricus Du Plessis claimed that Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett would co-main event at UFC 319 in August, with the winner likely to challenge Topuria later this year.
“Co-main event is Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje,” Du Plessis said in a video that’s been making the rounds on social media. “That’s an awesome fight. Awesome fight.”
