One of Ilia Topuria’s most brutal finishes to date didn’t come as a surprise to the then future UFC featherweight champion.
At present, ‘El Matador’ sits with a perfect 16-0 record and with an impending opportunity to achieve two-division glory on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.
Topuria will fight Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 on June 28. The pair are battling for the lightweight title vacated by Islam Makhachev.
Following confirmation of his lightweight return fight, the 28-year-old former featherweight kingpin looked ahead to his next bout. Topuria is vowing to finish Oliveira during International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
And when it comes to delivering on his predictions, Topuria certainly has a track record.
Ilia Topuria made good on his promise to ‘smash’ Ryan Hall’s face at UFC 264
Topuria boasts plenty of violent moments on his Octagon highlight reel, and among the most vicious was his knockout of grappling specialist Ryan Hall.
The pair met on the undercard of UFC 264, a high-profile event that was headlined by Conor McGregor’s trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier.
In the lead-up, Topuria spoke to UFC.com and dismissed any concern over Hall’s unique style. ‘El Matador’ predicted that he would avoid any surprises and “smash” the American’s face.
“In every fight I have different gameplans. For example, when you’re going to fight someone and you know you have to strike with him and do a standup fight, the mentality is a little bit different. When you go to fight someone where you know that you have to take him down and do grappling, it’s different.
“You’re going to see a very, very aggressive Ilia Topuria and you’re going to see how I’m going to smash his face.
“I don’t think I’m going to be surprised with anything he’s going to do July 10.”
That is exactly what happened on fight night at UFC 264, with Topuria remaining calm amid Hall’s attempts to pull guard and roll into leg locks.
The Georgian-Spaniard met that jiu-jitsu approach with an onslaught of punches that left ‘The Wizard’ unconscious.
Ilia Topuria’s legendary UFC run since beating Ryan Hall
Since his emphatic performance against Hall, Topuria has not looked back.
The 28-year-old’s next five fights have seen him record four finishes, become a UFC champion, and defend a title.
Following standout wins over a pair of notable contenders in Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett, Topuria’s habit of predicting his results continued.
The victims of his next KO picks were Alexander Volkanovski (to win the featherweight belt in February 2024) and Max Holloway (to defend the gold in October 2024).
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event |
| Win | Max Holloway | KO | UFC 308 |
| Win | Alexander Volkanovski | KO | UFC 298 |
| Win | Josh Emmett | Decision | UFC Jacksonville |
| Win | Bryce Mitchell | Submission | UFC 282 |
| Win | Jai Herbert | KO | UFC London |
‘Mystic’ Topuria will now look to send Oliveira to a similar fate at UFC 317 in order to join the exclusive club of two-division champs in MMA’s leading promotion.