The way he’s racking up wins and being celebrated in murals on the streets of Spain, UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria might already be surpassing Conor McGregor’s legacy as a cultural icon. UFC veteran Chael Sonnen agrees. In fact, Uncle Chael believes he doesn’t need long to get there.
‘El Matador’ has already beaten two of the greatest featherweight champions the organization has seen, and he did it in back-to-back fights.
Sonnen talks about how Topuria is on the verge of breaking the McGregor barrier and says that Topuria has the biggest actresses and the most successful athletes, footballers (soccer players) like Sergio Ramos coming to the arenas and watching him live.
“The guy never misses. It turns out, he’s as good as he said. I mean, it’s gonna be a short period, he’s not here now, but it’s a short period of time at this trajectory, believe this or not, he’s gonna pass Conor McGregor.”
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Topuria‘s trash talk is fairly up there as well and unlike McGregor, he doesn’t bring anybody’s family or kids, religion, or country into it. It’s simple, old school, “I am about to kick your butt” callouts that he does effectively and then he backs it up.
And once the fight is done, he’s humble, in victory or in defeat. Even moms can like the Spaniard, whereas McGregor, thanks to his antics is way more polarizing. Topuria is the anti-hero to McGregor’s villain.
It cannot be argued that ‘The Notorious‘ made the UFC what it is today and his fame has reached a global status. Of course. But he seems to have burnt out that goodwill with his antics outside the octagon and refusal to fight inside it.
Now, this debate can last a lifetime. But former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has an idea about how the UFC can find the next superstar it can hitch its wagon to.
Kamaru Usman calls for Topuria vs. McGregor
The Spaniard has already called out McGregor multiple times now. McGregor doesn’t like him. During a BKFC event, the Irishman found himself in Spain where he brought up Topuria’s nationality claiming he wasn’t a Spaniard since he was a Georgian by birth.
Of course, given McGregor’s dive into infamy in Ireland’s political circles, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he has a rather loose grasp of the concept of immigration.
Regardless, Usman believes, that if Topuria is indeed the next superstar, the best way to ensure a future with him leading it would be to throw him and McGregor into a pit. On an episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ asserted that if the Spaniard beat the Irishman with the world watching, that’s all UFC will ever need.
“To send him to the moon right now why not give him Conor at 55…A stadium in Spain, he becomes the next Conor McGregor”
For this to happen though, McGregor would have to let Dana White know that he’s up for an actual fight because, unlike Michael Chandler, Topuria doesn’t seem like a guy who’s going to wait 2 years for a money fight. He’s already a superstar. He’s got the money.
