SUMMARY
- Topuria, the Georgian-Spanish UFC fighter, had a delightful week, becoming the UFC's new featherweight champion by defeating Alexander Volkanovski.
- Ilia Topuria's entrance at Santiago Bernabeu was celebrated not only by fans but also by Merle Christine, the ex-girlfriend of UFC star Alex Pereira.
It has been a pretty eventful week for the Georgian-Spanish fighter Ilia Topuria. Topuria was crowned as the UFC’s new featherweight champion last week after he defeated Alexander Volkanovski. He knocked out Volkanovski in the second round of the UFC 298. However, Topuria received special recognition from one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world yesterday.
Ilia Topuria was invited to take the honorary kick-off by Real Madrid at the iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Topuria was greeted by the packed stadium, with over 81,000-odd fans cheering for the new UFC champion. He also showed off his featherweight championship belt while stepping out on the pitch. The players of both the teams, Real Madrid and their opponents Sevilla, showed their appreciation for Topuria.
UFC Champion Ilia Topuria is honored by Real Madrid before kick-off. pic.twitter.com/WRb9smhSla
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) February 25, 2024
Meanwhile, Ilia Topuria was also celebrated by Merle Christine, the ex-girlfriend of the Brazilian UFC star Alex Pereira. Christine, who is the host of Fightology, shared a clip of Topuria’s grand entrance at the Santiago Bernabeu on her Instagram account. She also added the caption, “It’s insane what this guy accomplished. He’s bringing the sport to a whole new community.”
However, Merle Christine’s post wouldn’t go down well with Alex Pereira. The Brazilian fighter broke up with Merle, who was also his fiancee, recently. While Pereira is the current UFC light heavyweight and middleweight champion, he has yet to receive the kind of special recognition that Topuria got.
Dana White is contemplating giving Ilia Topuria his dream fight at Santiago Bernabeu
Over the last few weeks, the idea of hosting a UFC event at Santiago Bernabeu has generated quite a storm. The new UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has expressed his desire to fight at the home of 14-time European champions Real Madrid. Moreover, Topuria has also named his ideal opponent for the fight, and it’s none other than Conor McGregor.
Dana White says the UFC will host an event in Spain and Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium “sounds good” as the venue 🇪🇸 #UFC298 pic.twitter.com/K8Tb4qD7SK
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 18, 2024
While the UFC CEO Dana White hasn’t given any confirmation to Topuria, he’s contemplating taking UFC to Spain. White recently said, “Yeah, we are definitely going to Spain. As long as there’s a venue, we are going to Spain.” Although, White has stated that he hasn’t decided on who will be a part of that event. However, Topuria’s dream fight against the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion remains a possibility.
Ilia Topuria’s dream of fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov remains unlikely
Meanwhile, besides challenging Conor McGregor, Ilia Topuria has also expressed his wish to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, while Topuria’s dream fight against McGregor remains a possibility, a potential fight against Nurmagomedov is out of the question. It has been almost two years since Nurmagomedov announced his retirement following his father’s death.
Nevertheless, Topuria has been recently toying with the idea of fighting Nurmagomedov. He said, “I would be happy to enter the Octagon with Khabib Nurmagomedov.” He also expressed his admiration for the Russian former fighter who had a 29-0 record and was the longest-reigning UFC lightweight champion. However, Topuria remained confident that he would defeat Nurmagomedov if the two ever got into the ring.
