Pablo Motos reveals what few know about Ilia Topuria: “He was not talented at all”

This Thursday, November 14, the martial artist returned to see the purple ants for the third time in 2024, where before receiving him, Motos announced that Hollywood will soon return to ‘The Anthill’but multiplied by five. Next week will go through the program Hugh Grant. In the following ones they will Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Patrick DempseyRobbie Williams and Eddie Redmayne on different days.

It was not, however, the only news of the night. And the excuse to receive again IliaTopuria was to tell the details of the fight withn Max Holloway in which he revalidated his title as UFC Featherweight Champion, on October 26. A feat with which the featherweight champion “made the impossible possible,” in the words of Motos himself.

However, he has enormous faith in himself, even without knowing how tough the other is. «Some studies are done before facing the opponent, I know the path they have had in the division. So, I base it on real events and also take into account what I am capable of doing inside the octagon. And I know that when I reach my 100th, there is no respite,” he explained.

The fighter’s wish

Motos also wanted him to express in words the level of happiness he felt after so much effort, right at the moment of winning. “I have thought about that answer many times, but I can never find the word that describes it,” Topuria began by commenting. «There is no one that can describe that level of happiness that one feels after that journey, after having worked so hard, starving, training… You see everything in black and white, and suddenly, you win. Feeling the emotion and energy of the people, that cannot be explained. For this reason, he stated, “I wish everyone could experience the happiness that I feel at that moment, because it is something unmatched.”

Apart from delving into the details of the fight, the presenter wanted to comment on “one thing that no one knows and that I think is really inspiring.” At the beginning of the fight, he revealed, “you weren’t the kid everyone noticed.”

«He was not talented at all. In fact, I was always cold, runny and skinny,” the fighter admitted. Nobody could imagine that he would become world champion, not even those close to him. «In my family I started practicing sports with my brother, he always won all the competitions and I lost. Because they felt sorry for me, they motivated me by offering me other things, to play the violin or the piano. But I refused and asked for a little more time.

Thanks to his father, things changed. “He made me believe in myself, he told me ‘when the world knows your talent and sees everything you have, you will evolve the world and the sport.’ That was the first important change I made in my life, which was to trust myself. “It was something very valuable that he gave me.”