El Matador Bulldozes to the Top: How Ilia Topuria conquered the UFC in 2024

The UFC Featherweight title can be described in one word: dominance. Almost every champion to hold the UFC Featherweight belt defended it multiple times in dominant fashion and the only one who did not, Conor McGregor, vacated his belt after going undefeated in the division. However, the end of each dominant champion’s reign often left a power vacuum where the belt was passed around by multiple top contenders such as the light heavyweight division in the early 2000s or the flyweight division from 2021-2022. In some cases, such as in the bantamweight division, there has yet to be a truly dominant force holding the belt. For this reason, holding the Featherweight belt has greater value than holding any other belt in the UFC as to be one of the five men to hold the title means to cement oneself in the history books.

Enter the undefeated Iilia “El Matador” Topuria. Topuria managed to defeat the champion Alexander Volkanovski and the consensus number two Max Holloway coming off the greatest highlight of his career through emphatic knockouts in near-perfect performances. At the age of 27, not even in his athletic prime, Topuria left two of the three greatest Featherweights unconscious on the canvas and solidified himself as the division’s next ruler. Up to that point, Volkanovski was undefeated at 145, dismantling every challenger put in front of him including Holloway, who he beat three times. Despite this, Holloway managed to carve his own legacy after the third Volkanovski fight by shutting down two Featherweight contenders and moving up to Lightweight to beat the number three contender Justin Gaethje in a buzzer-beater finish and knockout of the year. 

If one were to say two to three years ago that there would be a fighter to knock out both Volkanovski and Holloway, they would be called crazy. Let alone Max Holloway by knockout, who was hailed as having one of the greatest chins in UFC history. Within a calendar year, Topuria has accomplished the impossible and has ushered in a new era at 145. 

The only other fighter to even come close to such a historic run this year was UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Pereira has defended his belt three times against former light heavyweight champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka and number eight ranked Khalil Rountree. However, Pereira fought three times in a span of 6 months, saving two different fight cards as Conor McGregor pulled out of the main event of UFC 303 and UFC 305 was lacking a main event. 2024 was the defining year for both of these elite fighters, but Pereira’s wins do not hold a candle to the former pound-for-pound number one fighter and the third-best featherweight of all time in Volkanovski and Holloway respectively.

And yet, this historic run hasn’t been recognized by the UFC or the MMA community with an official award. The 2024 World MMA Awards were held, celebrating the best the sport has to offer across all promotions. However, for the Charles Lewis Fighter of the Year, the UFC’s 145-pound champ was missing from the list of nominees and he did not win the International Fighter of the Year award. The UFC does not have their 2024 awards ceremony until March but if the World MMA Awards were anything to go by, Topuria will likely be snubbed of a win at the promotional ceremonies as well.

Topuria’s peers believe that he is the rightful winner of this award though. UFC commentator and Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier states on his YouTube channel, “The ‘Fighter of the Year’ conversation felt like it was over. Alex Pereira was the guy that was the ‘Fighter of the Year’, no questions asked. That’s [no longer] the case. I think that these two wins [against Holloway and Volkanovski] singularly are as good as any two wins anybody can have.” MMA journalist Kevin Iole also frames the argument perfectly: “Volkanovski and Holloway are legends, though, and both will make the UFC’s Hall of Fame one day. While Hill and Prochazka have time to build a resume to make it, they aren’t there quite yet.” 

But once the year is over, the UFC and its athletes will move on. Despite not being officially recognized for an unbelievable 2024 title run, Topuria will be looking ahead to cement his legacy even further. The Featherweight has fresh matchups in store, including the undefeated Russian Movsar Evloev and the human highlight reel Diego Lopes, both waiting for a shot at the champion. But seeing as how Topuria has yet to show any glaring deficiencies in any part of his game, it is difficult to see any man at 145 beat him in 2025. Topuria has perfected the “sweet science” of boxing. He has near-perfect striking defense and is arguably the pound-for-pound hardest puncher in the promotion, meaning it is almost inevitable for anyone in the ring with him to be put to sleep. Despite this, his first combat sport was Greco-Roman wrestling and he would later translate that style into his first fights in the Spanish regional scene. Evloev and Lopes do pose unique challenges for the champ but Topuria’s dangerous boxing combined with his solid takedown defense and excellent grappling make it difficult to see either of them exposing a hole in his game.

Ilia Topuria has nearly perfected his craft at the age of 27 when most fighters reach their prime by the early 30s. He has knocked out two all-time greats and does not seem to be slowing down any time soon heading into the new year. The champ is currently eyeing a move up to lightweight to fight former champ Charles Oliveira and the current champ Islam Makhachev but ideally, Topuria would cement his legacy first by beating both of the rightful contenders at 145 before targeting the super fights. But regardless of who he fights next, 2025 is shaping up to be the year El Matador’s greatness will be undeniable.