Phenom Of The Next Generation

Knockout artist and ace wrestler, Ilia Topuria, aims to make the first defense of his Featherweight title opposite BMF kingpin, Max Holloway, this Saturday (Oct. 26, 2024) at UFC 308 inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In many ways, Topuria represents the best of what is to come in MMA. At just 27 years old, he’s the only UFC champion — male or female! — under the age of 30. With a wrestling background, jiu-jitsu black belt, and thunderous knockout power, he debuted as a well-rounded talent and has spent his four years on the roster really refining his gifts further. There are plenty of talented up-and-comers, but Topuria stood out quickly and has lined himself up to be the best of his generation.

I feel quite comfortable saying that in five years, every other UFC champion will be retired outright or on the severe decline. Topuria alone has the possibility to still hold a UFC title, though perhaps a different one than is currently on his shoulder. What’s fun here is that despite all that potential, despite already being one of the best pound-for-pound fighters alive at just 15-0, he could very well lose to Max Holloway, a legend of the generation behind him.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

One of the factors that contributes to Topuria feeling like a member of the next generation is his focus on boxing. The MMA striking meta has shifted more and more towards rewarding athletes skilled in the Sweet Science, and Topuria was and is ahead of the curve.

Compared to most, Topuria stands more squatted and with his lead foot tilted inward, which allows an extra bit of bounce in his step. He rolls his head like a boxer and builds combinations on the inside well, shifting his weight between shots far better than the average mixed martial arts (MMA) striker. He generates power within his stance, rather than relying on shifts and forward charges. There is murderous torque in every punch, which is really on display when he unleashes a four-punch combo along the fence.

Topuria’s movement makes his jab rather effective. Because he’s light on his feet, he can bounce forward and pull back effectively, making for a nice feint that hides when he actually steps in with his jab. When “El Matador” jabs, it’s a hard, spearing strike that snaps his opponent’s head back. He’s not just flicking the punch; he’s making an impact. Topuria’s will jab to the body as well, and he’ll occasionally lean forward a bit with his right shoulder to load up the jab, allowing him to cover an extra step of distance and add power.

Before long, Topuria is hiding his left hook behind that same movement. His slight squat and advance forward could be the jab, but he’s also skilled at sneaking a left hook around the guard without a ton of tell. Like all Topuria shots, his hook has power, even in this case where it’s not fully loaded up.

Topuria’s educated lead hand helps him convince opponents to circle into his right hand, a tremendously powerful weapon. What’s interesting about Topuria is that he can throw his right hand as a very crisp straight shot or the more classically chaotic MMA-style overhand, in which he falls into the punch like a boxer never would. However, he has an ability that most fighters do not: he can follow up even the sloppier variation with powerful combinations. Topuria consistently manages to follow his right with a killer left hook regardless of his body positioning, which has caught several opponents off-guard.

A great element of Topuria’s striking is his commitment to body work. Aside from the body jab, Topuria will commonly take his right straight to the bread basket. Even more of a signature weapon for Topuria is his left hook to the liver. He’ll throw that punch as a lead, which requires exceptional quickness and great timing to land well.

Really though, Topuria’s boxing all comes together when his opponent nears the fence (GIF). Time and time again, that’s when Topuria sends foes to the canvas. His commitment to body punches and ability to string together multi-punch combinations of knockout-worthy punches is highly unusual, and it’s never more effective than when his opponent has no way to back off from the pocket.

Historically, Topuria hardly kicks at all. He bucked that trend in his last two fights, however, playing the classic calf kick off the jab dilemma really well. Against Josh Emmett, he struck when Emmett began to parry the jab, as Topuria could kick out his fellow boxer’s lead leg. If Emmett started lifting his lead leg to check, his face would be full of jab. Suddenly, Topuria was dominating the distance boxing and forcing more desperate swings from his opponent.

The most impressive improvement in that bout specifically, however, was probably Topuria’s defense. In the past, there have been major issues in Topuria’s defense, most notably his habit of backing straight up off his pulls (a trait Jai Herbert and even Bryce Mitchell managed to time with strikes).

Against Emmett, Topuria was consistently pulling back at a slight angle. Improving his positioning even further was his embrace of the shoulder roll. When Topuria took a step back and sideways, he did so while hiding his chin behind his shoulder or slipping his head off to one side. Often, Emmett’s punches brushed off his shoulder or missed entirely.

Unlike most who try to shoulder roll in the cage, Topuria was able to answer afterward. He landed a couple check left hook counters while fading back behind his shoulder, but his most consistent counter shot was the right hand return. Immediately after feeling Emmett’s punch graze his shoulder, Topuria would fire a crisp right hand, often followed by a 3-2 in combination.

There are aspects of Topuria’s defense that have shown issues that went untested by Emmett. For example, his head moving forward from a low stance is highly vulnerable from an MMA perspective, an opponents have timed this with knees and high kicks. Generally, Topuria’s defense to round kicks just isn’t that great, either absorbing them clean or blocking with a single hand. He does punch through kicks often enough that it’s a risky prospect for his opponent too, but stepping through kicks alone isn’t the best defense.

In his last bout versus Alexander Volkanovski, Topuria didn’t bring any particularly new skills to the table, but he applied his usual strategies masterfully to knock out the Australian great. Volkanovski’s game plan was to strike from a distance, jabbing and pulling at Topuria while checking his right hand with the left round kick.

Topuria’s objective was to gain the pocket and fire in combination, but that required taking away some of Volkanovski’s range weapons first. For the jab, Topuria was active in pursuing the overhand across the jab, which did land decently. He really did well in timing the calf kick, however, which slowed Volkanovski’s feet and left him less willing to flick his lead hand.

The answer to Volkanovski’s left kick — a weapon that has frustrated the likes of Jose Aldo and Max Holloway greatly — was feints. Volkanovski was trying to flick up his lead leg as Topuria entered, so “El Matador” feinted his jab often and left Volkanovski kicking at air. Before long, he was using that brief moment where Volkanovski was out of stance to get closer to his opponent and make Volkanovski uncomfortable.

When Topuria did finally corner Volkanovski along the fence, his usually brutal combination punching was fully on display. When Volkanovski tried to angle off, Topuria stayed directly in front of him and sealed the deal with a crushing right hand.

Wrestling

Despite his Greco-Roman wrestling background and clear abilities in that regard, Topuria hasn’t actually wrestled all that much in the Octagon. When he has, however, he’s been electric!

A majority of Topuria’s offensive wrestling came in his debut opposite Youssef Zalal, who was riding a nice win streak at the time. Early on, the two wrapped up along the fence, trading position and pummeling for under hooks. It seemed like a bit of a stalemate until Topuria suddenly locked his hands, hipped in, and suplexed Zalal across himself.

Greco-Roman wrestling 101!

Beyond that throw, Topuria has largely wrestled below the waist. He has a very powerful double leg shot that he most typically completes in the center of the cage. If his opponent is able to maintain their footing and get to the fence, Topuria continues to wrestle well. Often, he’ll switch to the high crotch and step deep between his opponent’s legs, threatening to lift. As his opponent tries to defend the lift, Topuria will reshoot and attempt to return to the double leg. Most recently, Topuria landed a few nice double legs on Emmett in the fifth round of their fight, shutting down any chance of a last-second comeback KO.

Defensively, Topuria shut Bryce Mitchell down wonderfully. He lowered his level an extra notch, which made his sprawl even more effective. When he started overthrowing, Mitchell was able to find his hips more effectively, but even then, Topuria was kicking his hips back and heavily weighting overhooks to stop him in his tracks.

Better yet, he routinely punished Mitchell’s takedown attempts with heavy knees and punches.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

A black belt with eight wins via tapout, Topuria is an excellent top player who hunts for chokes very well.

Once on top, Topuria loves to jump on the neck. He does great work controlling the head, even from a position like half guard that isn’t necessarily ideal to finish submissions. He’ll start threatening, and if there’s nothing there, he can still work to advance into mount (where he’ll attack the arm-triangle choke).

More often, Topuria starts working his way under the chin. As soon as he’s threatening the neck, Topuria will look to crank and pass into mount for the guillotine finish. If his opponent turns more onto their hip and starts fighting hands, Topuria is likely to swim his arm deeper and attack the anaconda. Against Zalal, Topuria nearly finished an anaconda by using his thigh to catch the elbow and tighten the squeeze, but Zalal either fought hands masterfully with his free hand or grabbed the glove to save himself.

Tying into this submission chain is the arm-across guillotine or seated arm triangle, which traps his opponent’s arm across their own neck — it’s the move Jack Hermansson used twice. The great thing about this choke is that it allows Topuria to retain control and threaten the neck without giving up top position, and it can often be used to take the back as well.

It hasn’t happened yet in the UFC, but Topuria is always looking to step over an arm in mount for the triangle. In the likely event that his opponent tries to escape out the back door, Topuria will knee slide and circle behind, landing him in turtle — a great position to punch and take the back!

On the canvas, Topuria remains highly aggressive and excels at chaining his submissions and positional advancements together.

Conclusion

There is no perfect fighter, and Topuria has some defensive weaknesses that others have exploited. Nevertheless, his combination of boxing intelligence, incredible punching power, and outstanding grappling feels like the mix that could dominate Featherweight for years to come. Max Holloway is a huge test for any 145-pounder, but it’s hard not to favor the champion.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.