After the UFC debut of Ilia Topuria in 2020, UFC boss Dana White pulled him aside for an interview after his fight.
Last Saturday Ilia Topuria took on Charles Oliveira for the empty UFC light weight title in the UFC 317 Main Event at International Fight Week.
Continuation of his turnout as the biggest star in sport at the moment, Topuria scored a brutal first round knockout about Oliveira to become the tenth hunter in the history of UFC to win a title in two different weight classes.
Immediately after his enormous victory, 'El Matador' faced his potential first title defense when Paddy Pimblett gave his way into the cage for a spontaneous face.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Topuria's first conversation with Dana White Resurfen
The Spaniard debuted in the promotion during an extremely difficult time in the sports world, when Covid-19 ran unbridled.
Nevertheless, Topuria accepted the opportunity to compete against Youssef Zalal on UFC Fight Island. Topuria was a light underdog on the way to his promotion debut, because the majority of fans were not aware of his Superstar skills.
Topuria came to the UFC and was generally considered a dominant grappler, and against Zalal he showed his dominance on the ground for a large majority of the fight.
Towards the end of their three round fight, Topuria had landed five Takedowns of nine attempts, and since then he has never landed more than three Takedowns in a fight.
Immediately after his impressive debut win, UFC boss Dana White Topuria pulled aside to talk to him about his performance.
“You have that f— —— Fight in the short term, good, and you fought a bad mother – for three rounds, do you know what I mean? That was a perfect fight for you, you needed such a man to come in here and show you the levels and this boy fought four times this f – year, so he is in great form,” said White Topuria.
“Thank you, Dana. My dream came true tonight,” Topuria replied.
Dana White congratulates Ilia Topuria in 2020 after winning his UFC debut on 9 days cancellation period:
“You fought 3 rounds against a bad mother. You need such a man to show you the level here. This boy fought 4 times this year.”
“Welcome to the UFC”
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Ilia Topuria accused of being afraid of deserved lightweight competition
After he had been rejected with Pimblett after his recent victory, Topuria was accused of running 'Bang' by the old competition Arman Tsarukyan.
Tsarukyan weighed like the backup for the main event and although he was not necessary, he probably hoped that it would secure the next title shot.
Nevertheless, it is currently unclear who 'El Matador' will defend his lightweight title against the first time, where there are different options.