UFC Champ Ilia Topuria Channels Snoop Dogg’s Swagger, Credits Himself for Unwavering Dedication: ‘I Want to Thank Me’

Ilia Topuria has brought back a little bit of that old-school Snoop Dogg swagger to his latest Instagram post. The Spaniard is currently enjoying his downtime after winning the UFC featherweight title earlier this year.

The last few months have been like a PR tour for him, going from country to country with the belt and showing it off, deservedly so.

However, it has now been 4 months since the fight and fans are calling for him to defend the belt. But it seems he is paying no heed to them as he enjoys his time off in Ibiza.

In a recent Instagram post, he reflected on his MMA journey and how he overcame the hardships and all the struggles that came with it. Emulating Snoop Dogg from when he received his Hollywood Star, he had this to say,

“Today I want to thank myself for all the times I’ve respected myself, loved myself, forgiven myself. Long live the Matador that lives inside me! I will always be proud and with a smile on my face, remembering all that I have accomplished.”

Ilia Topuria has seen a lot of hardship in his life. In fact, the Spanish government just recently granted him citizenship after he won the title. Before this, he lived in Spain as an immigrant.

Now, it will be interesting to see who he defends his title against next. Alexander Volkanovski does pop in many a mind but Topuria seems to have used MMA math to avoid having that conversation. An idea for a title rematch at UFC 305 in Perth had been pushed along only to be rejected by the Spaniard.

Meanwhile, ‘The Great’ is himself taking time off from the octagon, after suffering two back-to-back KO losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.

Alexander Volkanovski promises to bring back the ‘old Volk’ for Ilia Topuria

Volk did not seem like himself when he fought Topuria for the first time.

The Aussie was coming off a head-kick KO by lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and perhaps needed more time to get his head back into the game. Instead, the former champion had only taken 4 months to return to action. Unfortunately, he barely looked like his own aggressive self and lost the fight to another KO.

But not that some time has passed, ‘The Great’ is adamant about taking on Topuria for the title.

In a recent interview with All-Star Sport, Alexander ‘The Great’ made his intentions known.

“You’re not gonna see a timid Volk, you’re gonna see a Volk that fights his fight. You wanna be put in front of me and put yourself in a position to land bombs, be ready for one coming straight back at you”

Since enough time has passed now, hopefully, the UFC can finally book the Topuria vs Volkanovski fight and give fans a battle for generations.