Ilia Topuria explains new nickname selection
“‘El Matador’ is one thing that has accompanied me all through my whole sporting profession, all through my whole trajectory, and it’s one thing that’s led me to the brand new nickname,” Topuria stated (h/t MMA Fighting). “It’s all the time what I say: You should consider. You should see to consider. I consider it first, after which I see it. So the nickname that may accompany me in my subsequent fights goes to be ‘La Leyenda.’”
Topuria claimed the UFC featherweight title early final 12 months, surprising the world with a knockout of pound-for-pound mainstay Alexander Volkanovski. He then defended his title with a knockout of Max Holloway, one other iconic featherweight, later within the 12 months.
Topuria’s beautiful wins over over Volkanovski and Holloway pushed him to the uppermost reaches of the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings. Nevertheless, simply when it regarded like he may turn into one of the dominant champs in featherweight historical past, he introduced plans to vacate the title and transfer as much as light-weight.
That was a number of weeks in the past. At this level, we nonetheless don’t know who “El Leyenda” will battle in his subsequent matchup, however he would possibly stroll proper right into a title battle with light-weight champ Islam Makhachev.
