UFC 308: Ilia Topuria gets the chance to fill the void of UFC’s star problem in first title defense

When Ilia Topuria scored a stunning knockout of Alexander Volkanovski to commandeer the UFC featherweight title in February, there was a collective feeling across the global MMA landscape that the next great superstar had just been born. 

Eight months later, that notion has the opportunity to go full bloom on Saturday when Topuria (15-0) makes the first defense of his title against former champion and reigning BMF king Max Holloway (26-7). The UFC 308 main event, which emanates from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, doubles as one of the best and most anticipated fights the sport could produce. 

There has been plenty of criticism for UFC of late amid this current era of the promotion’s landmark deal with ESPN, which has been more about watering down the matchmaking to ensure UFC meets its minimum number of dates promised within the broadcasting deal and less about relying on the revenue from the two to three biggest pay-per-view cards per year that previously kept the business afloat. 

Today’s UFC, which sits opposite WWE in parent company Endeavor’s new combat sports conglomerate known as TKO Group Holdings, appears more focused on signing long-term deals with major cities to bring multiple events across its growing portfolio during the same weekend for big money. And that has brought less of a need for individual stars to emerge as long as the promotion’s brand power remains strong, which is why UFC can often sell out the majority of arenas in a city before the fight card has even been announced. 

So, for anyone lamenting about when the next Conor McGregor is going to walk through that door to become the singular lightning rod capable of bringing back the hordes of casual fans that come over from the mainstream whenever the catnip buzz organically begins to overwhelm them, the real UFC stars in 2024 from a “face of the franchise” type feel are actually White, upstart business hotshot Hunter Campbell and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. 

That’s where Topuria comes in. 

Not only is “The Matador” beginning to look like the most capable successor to McGregor in the lineage of UFC crossover stars that has included the likes of Chuck Liddell, Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones, it’s clear that Topuria holds much more value to the UFC’s modern business model than most of his contemporary elite fighters of today. 

As the UFC looks to only increase its global footprint through the threats of full-blown expansion into areas like China, Mexico and Africa, Topuria is a true renaissance man with roots in multiple nations and cultures. Topuria, who was born in Germany to Georgian refugee parents, is now one of the biggest sports and pop culture stars in his adopted home of Spain, which UFC has coveted for years in hopes of a takeover.

Topuria is fluent in four languages, has close ties with soccer powerhouse Real Madrid and regularly attracts some of Europe’s biggest athletes to show up cageside to his fights. He also recently moved fulltime to Madrid where Topuria and his significant other, entrepreneur and influencer Giorgina Uzcategui Badell, raise their two young children.

It’s one thing for a new champion to arise within UFC offering either pound-for-pound ranked skills or the prospect of becoming a true PPV star as the most famous fighter on the roster. It’s another thing altogether when said fighter can be both, at the same time.

Topuria has all of the potential to become exactly that should he defeat Holloway, which would only strengthen his argument for being the best fighter in the world while giving UFC all the reason it needs to bring a major PPV card to such a hotbed market like Madrid or Barcelona, both of which White told media members this week will be the plan for 2025. 

“I represent the new generation of mixed martial arts,” Topuria said during the “UFC 308 Countdown” show. “I bring something that has never been seen in the UFC. I’m a complete fighter so it doesn’t matter where the fight takes place. I know that I’m going to beat you up.”

The first thing one might notice by looking at Topuria and listening to him speak is that he’s not longing for self-confidence. It’s the kind of belief in one’s self that can easily be classified as cocky or insincere, especially when Topuria makes the bold move — like he did ahead of the Volkanovski fight — of already updating his social media accounts to declare victory in the bio section before the fight has even taken place. 

That’s ultimately the beauty of the kind of true commercial potential that Topuria has because he can play both sides at the same time, creating equal levels of love and loathing from the fanbase. 

Should you believe he’s nothing more than a big-talking villain (or heel, in the pro wrestling sense), Topuria has no shortage of confident soundbites to support that. Yet, the more you listen to him, the more you realize how much of Topuria’s grandstanding confidence is actually the result of his constant mental preparation through visualization and manifestation, which suddenly becomes both endearing and inspiring after big wins, similar to the promo he cut inside the cage after defeating Volkanovski.

“They are going to tell you that you can’t do it,” Topuria told Joe Rogan during the postfight interview at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California. “But guess what? The only person you need is yourself. Just trust yourself, work tirelessly, have faith and everything is possible.”

Topuria’s knockout of Volkanovski gave him more opportunities to extend his brand as both the first Georgian and Spanish fighter to win a UFC championship. And he did just that eight days after the fight when, in front of 85,000 adoring fans, he handled the honorary kickoff for Real Madrid before a game against Sevilla inside Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where Topuria is hoping to make the next defense of his title in 2025 with a win on Saturday. 

“I never said I want to become a UFC world champion. I said, I will become a UFC world champion,” Topuria said during Wednesday’s media day. “In my mind, I believed that this would happen. I always was a world champion, it was a matter of time that it would manifest in reality.”

Given all of the above, it should come as no surprise that Topuria is predicting an early knockout of Holloway, even though the living legend who finished lightweight Justin Gaethje with a single punch in the closing seconds of their UFC 300 bout in April has never been knocked down, let alone finished by strikes, in 33 pro fights. Making those claims are bold enough, but Topuria hasn’t stopped there. 

Throughout the build to UFC 308, Topuria has began planting the seeds for any number of big matchups on the horizon, whether that be McGregor, himself, or a superfight against the reigning and defending lightweight king, Islam Makhachev, who just so happens to be the top P4P fighter in the sport. 

“If UFC calls me to move up to the lightweight, I will be OK with that,” Topuria said Wednesday. “I will move up and be the first one to submit Islam Makhachev.” 

But, when Topuria was asked about his overflowing confidence and constant visions regarding what challenge he hopes to conquer next, he was quick to remind that he wasn’t looking past Holloway one bit. Then, without hesitation, he mentioned one more seemingly unreachable feat. 

“They ask me what I want to achieve in the UFC and what was my dream. My answer was I want to become a three-weight UFC world champion,” Topuria said. “What makes me be so confident? The hard work I’m putting in and to know what I’m trying to do inside the Octagon.

“Always, my mindset was that anything I’m doing, I want to be the best.”

Whether or not Topuria can actually get there will be fun to sit back and watch. But it’s becoming more and more difficult to doubt him. Topuria has deadly power in both hands, the patience and IQ to plant an early seed before delivering the finishing blow at the first opportunity (similarly to how he toppled Volkanovski) and an equally well-rounded game on the ground to combat anything thrown at him inside the cage.

Should he finish Holloway similar to how he did the former champion who owns a trio of victories over Hawaiian star, Topuria should also find himself in both the fighter of the year discussion, even with the trio of title defenses put forth by light heavyweight king Alex Pereira in a span of just 176 days, and in contention for top spot on the P4P list. 

“The goal is to be the first one to knock [Holloway] out and this is what is going to happen,” Topuria said. “The world will realize who is real and [who is] the best fighter in the world. No one has the power I have in my hands, no one has the skills that I have. The way I applicate the technique and the skills to my opponent, the way that I move my head, the way that I dominate the Octagon — that’s the difference.

“I always used to say that the real warrior doesn’t hate what he has in front but he loves what he has behind. My family is my motivation for all I am doing in this life.”