Ilia Topuria replicated Conor McGregor's performance to win both the UFC -Fedweight and the lightweight titles, but who did it better?
The highlight of Topuria's two-division ambitions came last Saturday evening, when he led the International Fight Week Pay-per-View event in Las Vegas.
Topuria caught Charles Oliveira on UFC 317 to claim the 155-pound belt, which was left by Islam Makhachev prior to the own movement of the Dagestani.
The brutal result in T-Mobile Arena followed two similar violent versions of 'El Matador' against Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in 2024. The Spaniard ended the first to win the featherweight title and became the very first to sleep in defense of the crown.
With that, Topuria quickly became the first man to win those two belts since McGregor, whose three straight title fights have long been announced as one of the best runs of all time.
Aljamain Sterling brings the last three victories of Ilia Topuria above Conor McGregor's title fight
After Topuria had finished the immediate hope of Oliveira in a second lightweight title in an emphatic way, many were awe of the trio of victories that extended the perfect pro-record of the Spaniard to 17-0.
Among them was the former UFC Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, who suggested that the last three victories of Topuria were above and outside the triumphs of McGregor about Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez.
“It's bigger than Conor's Run,” said Sterling on his YouTube podcast. “Ilia has done the craziest and best we have ever seen from a modern UFC hunter.
“You look at Conor – and this is not a shadow opposite Conor – I would say that his best run in terms of name value was Chad Mendes, but it was short term … Then he fought against Jose Aldo, right? I think it was immediately after. And then he fought with Eddie Alvarez.
“But then you have Ilia,” Sterling continued. “His last three people have been some of the greatest battle athletes of all time. It is insane what this man did.
“I don't think there has been a more impressive Drie-Fight Run than this.”
After overcoming a tough stylistic matchup against Mendes, McGregor wrote history by putting Aldo in just 13 seconds.
After a two-way series with Nate Diaz that they split, 'The Notorious' returned to the Championship competition by Eddie Alvarez in Madison Square Garden to be the very first UFC 'Champ-Camp'.
Conor McGregor responded to the UFC 317 -winning of Ilia Topuria
Although inactive as a hunter, McGregor remains extremely active on social media, and often responds to large UFC cards at times.
With that in mind, the Irishman who had no surprising had something to say when Topuria collected the title he used to have on UFC 317, she briefly.
“Congratulations on winning my old titles, Ilia! He said he will also let his balls rest on Paddy's head, haha fair play,” wrote McGregor.
“In my opinion, the good lightweight scrap is too.
McGregor often focuses on hunters, but remembering to do this in the copy of the newly crowned lightweight champion, instead laughing from Topuria's face-off with Paddy Pimblett.