Ilia Topuria does the impossible: knocks out Max Holloway in the third round and remains UFC champion

In the first round, during the first ten seconds, as promised, Topuria summoned Holloway to the center of the cage, who ignored the invitation to exchange blows. Immediately afterwards, El Matador began to seek to close the distance with his boxing, connecting several powerful hands and mixing it with a good kick to the legs of Holloway, who also fought back with the occasional hand. Topuria added a demolition that also allowed him to warn that he was going to have many resources to use during the fight. The set, which traveled to the Topuria corner, ended with a handball from the Spaniard and a slip from the Hawaiian.

In the second round, both decided to exchange the fight on the feet, with good blows, Topuria combinations and kicks, again, to the legs. However, Holloway began to connect clearer hands, making the Spaniard uncomfortable in some stages of the round. These 5 minutes included a spinning kick from Holloway that hit Topuria squarely in the torso.

Already in the third, the most anticipated moment arrived: Topuria knocked out Holloway after a spectacular combination of hands.

Thus, after having won the belt last February in Anaheim (California), against one of the best featherweight fighters of all time, Alexander Volkanovski, Topuria has now achieved a historical milestone, by being the first artist mixed martial arts that achieved a victory against Holloway and the aforementioned Australian athlete, both former champions of one of the most competitive divisions in the best MMA league in the world.

The truth is that the trajectory of the Hispanic-Georgian champion has been meteoric within the American company, until he managed to position himself as a superstar. Topuria, who had an undefeated professional record of 8-0 at the time, arrived at the UFC in October 2020, when he debuted with a victory against Youssef Zalal, accepting the fight with only 8 days’ notice. That same year, he knocked out Damon Jackson and his name was already beginning to be heard at featherweight.

Already in 2021, his fight against Ryan Hall would arrive, one of those fighters that no one wanted to compete against and Topuria knocked him out in just one round. A year later, he would obtain his media explosion, managing to knock out Jai Herbert in London and submit the American promise Bryce Mitchell. Meanwhile, the work on his image and his social networks helped him position himself as a name to take into account to transcend this discipline.

Last year, he gave a hitting lesson in Jacksonville against Josh Emmett, which allowed him to get the starting opportunity against Volkanovski last February. Two rounds helped him explode like a superstar by fastening the UFC world champion belt. Now, after consolidating his legacy, it is time to execute the next dream on his list: bringing the UFC to Spain, something that will most likely happen in 2025.

On the horizon a clear name appears on the list and Topuria knows him very well: Alexander Volkanovski. The former monarch of the category has been unemployed since he ran into Topuria and the next challenge for the Hispano-Georgian is almost official. Furthermore, Diego Lopes is another of the names that are already being heard as a featherweight contender, so much so that he went to Abu Dhabi as a replacement fighter for Topuria against Holloway.