UFC Presenter Cites Ilia Topuria As The Next Big Thing Of UFC For THIS Reason

A UFC presenter hails Ilia Topuria as the sport’s next big star, revealing the key factor behind his meteoric rise

Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria has been on the rise in recent times. After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the title, Topuria had yet another incredible bout. Facing off against the likes of Max Holloway, Topuria impressed everyone by knocking out the UFC BMF Champion in an emphatic manner. Now, with more featherweight action expected from him, Topuria has recently taken a bold step. He vacated his featherweight title and went up to the lightweight division. While this move has been criticized by many, UFC presenter Megan Olivi mentioned that Topuria might become UFC’s next big star.

Olivi appeared in a recent video on Mike Bohn’s YouTube channel. Speaking about the current UFC scenario, Olivi opined that Topuria has all the qualities to become the UFC’s face.

“Ilia Topuria. I’m a big fan of this guy’s star power. I think being able to see somebody who can carry themselves in multiple languages for an international company. Not only does he have the English language skills to appeal to everybody who can understand him in those interviews, of course he speaks fluent Spanish,” sapd Olivi.

She further added that by gaining the backing of Europeans, Topuria has also garnered some pretty good designer deals. Moreover, ‘El Matador’ has also appeared on some popular platforms that other UFC athletes don’t visit often. However, to gain traction, Topuria must beat Islam Makhachev. And Michael Bisping knows exactly how the UFC needs to approach it.

Michael Bisping Gives Ilia Topuria Success Route Map

A UFC veteran outlines a key factor for Ilia Topuria’s success at lightweight

Ilia Topuria

After Ilia Topuria’s move to lightweight, varying opinions have come in. One such opinion has been that ‘El Matador’ needs to have a championship contender match first. Well, according to Bisping, that is not how the UFC must approach things. For if Topuria loses, things might get problematic.

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“Ilia is special, but if he lost to them [Justin Gaethje or other top lightweight contenders], there’s a massive market opportunity lost there because Ilia vs. Islam… Ilia with the rise…Ilia still being in a lot of people’s minds the featherweight champion against the lightweight champion. There’s something there. If he loses to Gaethje, but then two or three fights later gets a shot, it’s not quite the same sell,” said Bisping.

Thus, with some interesting developments in the lightweight division, it will be interesting to see how things pan out. Currently, the fans are eagerly waiting to see the confirmed matchup between Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev.