Although he has not reached the pinnacle of glory like Conor McGregor in the past, Ilia Topuria also had a surprising coincidence before the title match at UFC 298.
Ilia Topuria will enter his first official championship fight at UFC 298 this weekend, when he takes on reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in the main event.
A few hours ago, ESPN MMA shared three surprising coincidences between Ilia Topuria and former featherweight superstar Conor McGregor before stepping into the ring to compete for his first official title at UFC.
– Both had 6 wins before the title fight
– Both had a streak of 14 consecutive wins before competing for the title
– Both were 27 years old when they entered the title match.
However, that’s not all the similarities that make people admit that Topuria is destined to become the next Conor McGregor of the weight class.
Scary punches: In his first 6 wins in UFC, Conor McGregor had 5 knockdowns, 5 knockout wins. Ilia Topuria is not far behind with 4 knockdowns in 6 matches. All were done with punches.
Topuria’s boxing ability is evident in all of his fights, just like how Conor McGregor dominated the featherweight division in the past.
Prestigious representative: If Conor McGregor is the first Irish fighter to compete for the UFC championship belt, then Ilia Topuria is also the first fighter from the two countries he represents: Spain and Georgia, to have the opportunity to touch the throne of the biggest MMA tournament on the planet.
A Georgian who grew up in Germany and later moved to Spain, Ilia Topuria has a huge following in Spain, with football superstar Sergio Ramos even coming to congratulate Topuria on his most recent win over Josh Emmett last June.
Ambition to break a dynasty: When entering UFC 194, Conor McGregor had to face Jose Aldo, who at that time had 1848 consecutive days holding the UFC championship, also the fighter with the longest streak of belt holding days in the history of the weight class.
Eight years later, Topuria would do the same, as by UFC 298, Alexander Volkanovski had been on the throne for 1,526 days. Currently, “The Emperor” is also the champion holding the record for the longest consecutive days of holding the title while still competing.
Even the way Ilia Topuria put pressure on Alexander Volkanovski with trashtalk and threats was similar to what Conor McGregor did to Jose Aldo in the past, with the goal of breaking down the champion’s strong psychological wall.
Conor McGregor made history by ending Jose Aldo’s reign in 13 seconds, also the shortest title fight in UFC history. There are surprising coincidences with “The Notorious”, can Ilia Topuria create another usurpation to become the new star of the UFC.
