There are now two Topurias in the UFC after Ilia’s older brother announced he’ll fight in the promotion at bantamweight.
We’ve seen Ilia Topuria’s brother Aleksandre in the corner of “El Matador” during his UFC fights. Now Aleksandre is set to compete in the same cage.
In a new Instagram post, the 5-1 “El Conquistador” revealed that he’d been signed by the UFC and would be competing in the bantamweight division moving forward.
“As many of you know, my personal goal and challenge for many years was to see my brother win the world championship belt,” Aleksandre wrote on Instagram. “I positioned myself as his coach, and thank God, that goal was fulfilled. I’m proud and grateful of the performance my brother had. Now it’s time to defend the belt and of course I’ll be there.”
“Likewise, in my mind and heart, the desire to battle on the frontline has never faded,” he continued. “So I’ve never stopped competing, but this time it will be in the biggest league in the world. I would like to announce I have officially signed with UFC.”
Aleksandre has never fought outside of Spain before and his record consists of lower level regional opponents. His last two opponents have 3-1 and 1-11 records respectively. With just one fight a year for the past three years, we won’t know if Aleksandre Topuria has what it takes to hang in the UFC bantamweight division until he steps into the octagon.
Ilia Topuria is one year younger than his brother Aleksandre, and welcomed his brother’s news in an Instagram story.
“It’s time, my brother,” Ilia wrote, adding a crown emoji to the end of his message.
Ilia is set to defend the featherweight title against Max Holloway at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Could we see his big brother fight on the undercard as well?