Ilia Topuria has cemented himself as the Pound-for-Pound king in the UFC, dominating whichever weight division he finds himself in.
The Spanish-Georgian fighter is unbeaten in his professional career, going 17-0 in the octagon from Bantamweight all the way up to the Lightweight division.
He won the UFC Featherweight championship from Alexander Volkanovski in 2024, only to vacate the belt to jump up to Lightweight, where he did the same to Charles Oliveira in impressive fashion.
Here is everything you need to know about Ilia Topuria.
Ilia Topuria’s age, height, weight, and reach
Ilia Topuria was born on January 21, 1997, making him 28 years old as of September 2025. He was born in Germany to Georgian parents, who were refugees from Abkhazia.
They returned to Georgia when Topuria was seven years old, before moving to Spain at the age of 15.
He is the first Georgian to win a title in the UFC and has become a two-weight champion in the promotion.
“La Leyenda” stands at five feet seven inches, equivalent to 170 cm. He fights in the UFC Lightweight division, having moved back up from Featherweight in 2025. He weighed in at around 145 lbs while fighting as the Featherweight champion.
Topuria also has a reach of 69 inches (175 cm).
Why did Ilia Topuria vacate the UFC Featherweight title?
Topuria was the undefeated UFC Featherweight champion when he vacated the title in early 2025.
His reason was to move up to Lightweight for a planned title fight with Islam Makhachev, one of the toughest fighters in the promotion.
However, soon after he moved up, Makhachev vacated the UFC Lightweight title in order to move up to Welterweight, ending Topuria’s chances of facing him.
Ilia Topuria’s walkout song
Topuria changes his walkout song on a regular basis. For UFC 2998, he walked out to “Canción del Mariachi” by Antonio Banderas & Los Lobos.
However, at UFC 308, Topuria entered to ACDC’s “Hell’s Bells”, switching up his music to a less traditional tune.
As he changes so often, it is difficult to predict what his walkout song will be for his next UFC fight.
Ilia Topuria’s MMA stats
The stats surrounding Topuria’s fights show just why he has been so dominant in the UFC.
Topuria lands more than four and a half significant strikes per minute, landing nearly half of them to cause massive damage to his opponents.
| Significant Strikes Landed per Minute | 4.69 |
| Significant Striking Accuracy | 47% |
| Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute | 3.84 |
| Significant Strike Defense (the % of opponents’ strikes that did not land) | 64% |
| Average Takedowns Landed per 15 minutes | 2.02 |
| Takedown Accuracy | 61% |
| Takedown Defense (the % of opponents’ TD attempts that did not land) | 93% |
| Average Submissions Attempted per 15 minutes | 1.10 |
His almost perfect takedown defense (93%) means that Topuria’s opponents have to stand up and fight him in a punching match, which he rarely doesn’t come out on top.
Ilia Topuria’s net worth
According to various sources, Topuria has an estimated net worth of around $2 million, owing to his success as a former UFC Featherweight champion who remains undefeated in the octagon.
However, he made more than $3.5 million for his victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, and nearly $4 million when he finished Max Holloway in the UFC Featherweight title fight at UFC 308.
Since those wins, Topuria’s net worth will have jumped significantly and will be closer to $10 million in the near future.
Ilia Topuria’s next fight
Topuria is not currently scheduled to fight, having not competed since beating Oliveira at UFC 317.
A bout between Topuria and Terence Crawford has been teased, but the likelihood of that taking place is low.
The UFC Lightweight champion will likely defend his title against the top contender in the division in 2026, with Islam Makhachev avoiding the clash by jumping up to Welterweight.
Ilia Topuria’s MMA record
Topuria has a perfect record in his career so far, with nobody even coming close to finishing the Spanish-Georgian in the octagon.
La Leyenda has fought 17 times, winning all of them, mostly by either knockout or submission. Only two opponents have managed to survive being finished by Topuria in his career, and he only looks more impressive as his career progresses.
| Win-Loss-Draw | (T)KO | Sub |
| 17-0-0 | 7-0 | 8-0 |
Some of Topuria’s best wins have come against the most dangerous men in the UFC, including former world champions like Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.
Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway
“La Leyenda” knocked out Max Holloway in the third round of their highly anticipated fight to retain his UFC Featherweight title in his final defense of the belt.
This was the first knockout loss of Holloway’s career and helped cement Topuria’s undefeated streak in the UFC.
Shortly after the win, Topuria vacated the belt to move up to the Lightweight division.
Ilia Topuria vs Alexander Volkanovski
At UFC 298, Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in one of the biggest bouts in the UFC Featherweight division in years.
He ended Volkanovski’s four-year reign as champion in the second round, just four months after the Australian suffered a defeat to Makhachev for the UFC Lightweight title.
Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira
In his UFC debut at Lightweight, Topuria cemented himself as the top fighter in the promotion when he knocked out Oliveira to become the UFC Lightweight champion.
The Spanish-Georgian knocked his Brazilian opponent out cold with a brutal right hand, knocking him out before he hit the mat in a special victory at UFC 317.