Ilia Topuria is pretty darn good.
The undefeated 15-0 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion has risen to superstardom just as he anticipated. While all have fallen before him, Topuria still has plenty left to accomplish at age 27.
Regarding his technical prowess and overall skillset, “El Matador” is one of the planet’s more dangerous and complete fighters. For longtime UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, there’s not much, if anything, Topuria does wrong.
“One of the things that is phenomenal about him is his technique,” Rogan said on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast (h/t MMA Junkie). “His technique is perfect. There’s no fat in his technique. There’s no wasted movements, so when an opportunity presents itself, everything is so fast because the technique is so streamlined.
“Look at how he hits the pads, and when you watch how he hits pads — [Floyd] Mayweather is a great example of that, as well,” he concluded. “Some of the best hands in the sport. Current UFC featherweight champion and knocked out [Alexander] Volkanovski, who is maybe the greatest of all time.”
Match ups in mixed martial arts (MMA) don’t get much better than Topuria’s first title defense. He’ll take on the former Featherweight champion and current Baddest Motherf*cker (BMF) champion in UFC 308’s main event on Oct. 26, 2024.
Rogan, who is also a big Holloway fan, surely can’t wait for the likely epic clash
“See how he’s moving his head when a guy throws punches? Slipping just slightly? The speed, man,” Rogan said. “The f*cking speed of that. Look at the hand speed. F*cking incredible. If you know how difficult that is to do and do it that fast. I mean, these are like five, six punches a second and just phenomenal technique.”