The new featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, calls out former champ, Conor McGregor, after claiming the featherweight throne. ‘El Matador’ is already making big call outs after claiming the belt from long former dominant champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Unbelievably, Topuria has done it. He has beaten Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski at featherweight. Ilia Topuria talked the talk before the fight and has shown indefinitely that he can walk the walk. Topuria has become the featherweight champion with a stunning hook that slept the former champion. In the first round it was already clear that Topuria’s power was going to be a problem for Volkanovski. However, Volk was still holding his own and creating problems for ‘El Matador’ with a diverse array of kicks. It didn’t matter though as Topuria charged the champ down towards the cage in the second round where he found the sweet spot on Volkanovski’s head that sent the former champion to sleep, leaving Ilia Topuria as the new featherweight champion.
Even after such an impressive display of power and boxing, Ilia Topuria wasted no time on calling out his next desired opponent.
UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria Calls Out Conor McGregor
After his incredible victory, Ilia Topuria spoke with Joe Rogan in his post fight interview with plans to bring the UFC to Spain saying, ‘Dana (White), it’s showtime. It’s time to take the UFC to Spain.’ After this request, Topuria made it clear on who he wanted for match hopefully in Spain. ‘And Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I’ll be waiting for you in Spain.’
His post fight interview was an emotional one as the new champion was obviously overjoyed with his achievement. ‘I feel so happy right now. They are going to knock you down and doubt you but the only person you need to watch your back in this life is yourself. Just trust yourself, work tirelessly and have faith and everything is possible.’
Topuria also gave his insight on how the fight went in his eyes saying ‘I had to throw a lot of punches and long combinations in this fight and this is what I did. I know my skills, I work so hard. I was always knowing one day I would become a UFC world champion.’
Quotes via TNT Sports
What’s Next For Topuria?
I believe that a UFC event in Spain would be a fantastic idea for the UFC and MMA as a whole. We saw how successful it was when the UFC went to Paris and I personally would love to see more UFC fighters from Europe. However, I don’t think that Topuria is going to get his desired fight. There are many fighters that are preparing to challenge for the featherweight belt. One of them being Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway. Now, while Holloway failed to beat Alexander Volkanovski three times, you will never make it as one of the greatest featherweights if you haven’t fought Max Holloway. It won’t be easy for Topuria either as Holloway is one of the only fighters that can box better than Topuria. However, he is currently preparing for his BMF fight against Justin Gaethje and so we won’t be seeing that fight for a while.
In my opinion, Ilia Topuria’s next fight will be either be a rematch with Volkanovski or a fight against the winner of Yair Rodriguez v Brian Ortega. But who knows. Maybe Topuria will get his dream match up against Conor McGregor. Will Ilia Topuria ever fight Conor McGregor? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
