Sherdog’s 2024 Fighter of the Year
Ben
Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration
Virtually no one saw his reign on the horizon, which made Ilia Topuria’s unexpected rise to power in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division all the more enthralling.
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It all started in the UFC 298 main event, where Topuria proceeded to oust the once-indestructible Volkanovski via second-round technical knockout on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Referee Jason Herzog called for the stoppage 3:32 into Round 2, as more than 18,000 fans looked on with a strange combination of shock, awe and intrigue.
Neither the stage nor the stakes seemed to intimidate Topuria. He
zipped out to a strong start behind stout leg kicks and quick
punching combinations. Volkanovski stayed composed under heavy
fire, leaned into his big-fight experience, adjusted to the pace
being set and slowly but surely worked his way into the match. The
second round appeared to be trending in the champion’s
direction—until the true extent of Topuria’s punching power was
revealed in all its glory. A flush right hook punctuated a burst of
offense from “El Matador,” folded Volkanovski where he stood and
left him in a defenseless heap at the base of the cage. More
punches followed, necessitating the stoppage.
“I don’t need the judges,” Topuria said at the post-fight press conference. “When I’m fighting, they can go and take their time to break. The guy was really fast. Very fast jabs. With his kicks, he surprised me a little bit. It took me a little time to study him, and I had to knock him out in the second round. I was just waiting to find my timing.
“He caught me with a couple of punches, and he was celebrating,” he added. “I was like, ‘Now, it’s my turn. Wait for that. Wait for that.’ The game plan since the first moment was to do long combinations, not just a one-two, because It’s more difficult to read long combinations than just combinations with two punches.”
It was Volkanovski’s first-ever loss at 145 pounds.
“I thought I was doing great,” he said on his YouTube channel. “I felt great in there. I think the judges had me up the first round, and I think I was starting to pick it up even more in the second. I was ready to even go another level. I had him missing, I was starting to touch him and I was going to start adding on, and he did a great job of getting me to the cage, where we knew we didn’t want to be with someone like him.
“This is a crazy game we play,” Volkanovski added. “We can’t win them all. Sometimes you’re the hammer; sometimes you’re the nail. I’ve been the hammer many times. I’ve ruined a lot of people’s parties.”
Even after his resounding victory over the Aussie, Topuria still had his doubters. Soon, however, they had no legs on which to stand. In his first title defense as champion, Topuria brought down Holloway with punches in the third round of their UFC 308 headliner on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Stopped by strikes for the first time in his remarkable 34-fight career, Holloway bowed out 94 seconds into Round 3.
Topuria broke down the Hawaiian with swift but powerful leg kicks and thudding right hands over the top. Holloway answered with his patented jab, doing all he could to keep the champion at bay with his superior length. It worked for a time. Topuria cracked him with a right hook in the third round and flurried with body-head combinations. A sweeping left hook sent Holloway crashing to the canvas in a semi-conscious daze before the Spaniard closed it out with short punches and hammerfists. The UFC did indeed have another European superstar on its hands.
The defeat could mark the end of Holloway’s time in a division he terrorized for more than a decade, as he has announced his intention to relocate to 155 pounds on a permanent basis. What follows for Topuria remains something of an open question. He has mentioned the idea of moving up a division to challenge reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. Nevertheless, it does sound as if Topuria plans to defend his featherweight crown at least one more time.
“I will not leave the title vacant,” he said on X. “The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven’t had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating, because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division, and I will do the same in the next one.”
No matter where he fights next, Topuria appears to have an exit strategy already in place. The takeaway from a recent interview with the Spanish radio show El Partidazo de COPE? He does not intend to overstay his welcome, so enjoy him at peak form while you can.
“I’m 27,” Topuria said. “I hope to be out by 30.”
