Creator credit recorded on the linked source page: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brittany Primavera · Public domain (work of a U.S. federal government employee)
Ilia Topuria
“El Matador”
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFormer two-division UFC champion who started jiu-jitsu at 15 with the Argentine Climent brothers at their gym in Alicante, Spain.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, article on Ilia Topuria, accessed 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
Ilia Topuria was born on 21 January 1997 in Halle (Westfalen), Germany.
Where in the source: Infobox birth line; Background section, opening sentence
Accessed:
Topuria holds Georgian and Spanish nationality; he was granted Spanish citizenship on 5 March 2024, and Georgia's government said he would keep his Georgian citizenship.
Where in the source: Infobox nationality lines; Personal life, March 2024 entries
Accessed:
Wikipedia's infobox lists Topuria as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Jorge and Agustín Climent.
Where in the source: Infobox Rank line: "Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu"
Accessed:
Wikipedia states that in May 2018 Topuria became the first Georgian black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, alongside his brother Alex Topuria.
Where in the source: Early career paragraph, May 2018 sentence: "first Georgian black belt"
Accessed:
At seven Topuria moved with his family to Georgia and began Greco-Roman wrestling at a local school; after the Russo-Georgian War the family moved to Alicante, Spain, when he was 15, and he started Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the Climent gym at that age before turning to mixed martial arts.
Where in the source: Background section, opening paragraph
Accessed:
Wikipedia states that in 2014 Topuria won a silver medal in the juniors category at the IBJJF European 2014 tournament, and that he made his professional MMA debut in local competitions in 2015.
Where in the source: Background section, 2014 and 2015 sentences: "silver medal"
Accessed:
His team is listed as Climent Club from 2012 to 2025 and Topuria Team from 2025 onward, and he fights out of Alicante, Spain.
Where in the source: Infobox Team and Fighting out of lines
Accessed:
Topuria's ring nickname is El Matador.
Where in the source: Infobox Other names line: "El Matador"
Accessed:
Topuria began his professional career in 2015 with four straight submission wins on the Spanish regional scene and won the vacant Mix Fight Events featherweight title on 5 November 2016 in Valencia.
Where in the source: Early career, opening sentence; record table, Mix Fight Events 28 row
Accessed:
His first fight outside Spain came at CAGE 43 in Helsinki on 28 April 2018, where he submitted Mika Hämäläinen with a guillotine choke in the first round; in 2019 he signed with Brave Combat Federation and won both of his fights there, one by submission in Bogotá and one by knockout in Bahrain.
Where in the source: Early career, 2018 and 2019 paragraphs; record table, CAGE 43 row
Accessed:
Topuria made his UFC debut in October 2020 on short notice, replacing Seung Woo Choi, and beat Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision.
Where in the source: Ultimate Fighting Championship section, first paragraph: "short notice"
Accessed:
At UFC 282 on 10 December 2022 Topuria submitted Bryce Mitchell with an arm-triangle choke in the second round and earned a Performance of the Night award.
Where in the source: Ultimate Fighting Championship section; record table, UFC 282 row
Accessed:
On 17 February 2024 at UFC 298 in Anaheim, Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round to win the UFC featherweight championship, ending Volkanovski's four-year reign.
Where in the source: UFC Featherweight Champion section, first paragraph: "four-year reign"
Accessed:
On 26 October 2024 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi he defended the featherweight title by knocking out Max Holloway in the third round, the first knockout loss of Holloway's career according to the article.
Where in the source: UFC Featherweight Champion section, second paragraph: "first knockout loss"
Accessed:
In February 2025 it was announced that Topuria would give up the featherweight title to move up to lightweight; the article reports UFC president Dana White citing difficulty cutting weight and a wish to stay at lightweight.
Where in the source: Vacating title section
Accessed:
On 28 June 2025 at UFC 317 in Las Vegas Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira in the first round to win the vacant lightweight title, becoming the tenth multi-division champion in UFC history and, per the article, the first to win a second UFC title while undefeated.
Where in the source: UFC Lightweight Champion section, first paragraph
Accessed:
On 14 June 2026 at UFC Freedom 250 in Washington, D.C., Topuria lost the lightweight title to Justin Gaethje by corner stoppage at the end of the fourth round, his first loss in mixed martial arts.
Where in the source: UFC Lightweight Champion section, UFC Freedom 250 paragraph; record table, first row
Accessed:
The article describes Topuria as entering the UFC with a strong jiu-jitsu base and then building a boxing-heavy stand-up game under experienced coaches; fellow Georgian Merab Dvalishvili, who has trained with him, is quoted praising his wrestling and jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Fighting style and training section, first two paragraphs
Accessed:
On 21 March 2024 Topuria received Georgia's Order of Honor from the country's president at Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi.
Where in the source: Personal life section, 21 March 2024 paragraph
Accessed:
UFC.com, athlete profile of Ilia Topuria, accessed 21 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
The UFC athlete page presents him as 'El Matador', a lightweight with a 17-1-0 record that includes 8 submission wins and 7 knockout wins, born in Germany, training at Team Topuria, with Brazilian jiu-jitsu listed as his fighting style.
Where in the source: Athlete header and Fighter Facts — Trains At: Team Topuria; Fighting Style: Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Accessed:
La Nación (Argentina), interview with Jorge Climent by Diego Morini, 30 March 2024(opens in a new tab)
Jorge and Agustín Climent, Argentines, moved to Alicante in 2002 after Argentina's economic collapse with almost no money; Jorge says Agustín was the first of the two to take up jiu-jitsu, and that he was a blue belt and his brother a purple belt when they left.
Where in the source: Interview with Jorge Climent: "llegamos acá en 2002"; "cinturón azul, mi hermano violeta"
Accessed:
Jorge Climent says that money he received let the brothers rent premises and open the gym they still run, and that the club's first five years brought together about 40 to 50 members.
Where in the source: Interview with Jorge Climent: rented premises and opened the gym; "unos 40 o 50 integrantes"
Accessed:
Jorge Climent describes the brothers as pioneers of jiu-jitsu and MMA in Spain: he recalls only two black belts in the country when they arrived, says no federation or championships existed, and says that, with few competitions, they began organising events themselves and held championships inside their own gym.
Where in the source: Interview with Jorge Climent: "fuimos pioneros"; championships held inside the gym
Accessed:
Jorge Climent recounts that Topuria's mother, who was looking for a place for her sons to train after they came from Georgia, met a Cuban black belt from the club on a bus and was sent to the gym; the Climents tested the boys, trained them for a year while they learned Spanish, and then the brothers told their father they wanted to do mixed martial arts full time.
Where in the source: Interview with Jorge Climent: how the Topuria family found the club; trained them for a year
Accessed:
Jorge Climent says Agustín sparred with the new Topuria boys using only his legs and finished them that way, which impressed them; he calls the Topuria brothers dedicated and obsessive and Ilia very analytical, and describes the club as a family in which he and Agustín are the parents.
Where in the source: Interview with Jorge Climent: sparring with the new boys, "sólo con los pies"; the club as a family
Accessed:
The SportsRush, interview with Jorge Climent by Adarsh Ojha, 11 March 2024(opens in a new tab)
According to the SportsRush interview article, Ilia and Aleksandre Topuria arrived at the Climent gym at 15 with a Greco-Roman wrestling background and no jiu-jitsu experience.
Where in the source: Section on training Aleksandre and Ilia Topuria at age 15
Accessed:
The SportsRush article on its interview with Jorge Climent reports that for the UFC 298 camp the team trained at its own gym rather than the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas, three times a day, with visiting fans disturbing sessions.
Where in the source: Section on the UFC 298 fight camp challenge
Accessed:
Diario Panorama, republication of El Mundo feature, 18 February 2024 (original 23 June 2023)(opens in a new tab)
A republished El Mundo feature from June 2023 describes Climent Club as a gym the Argentine brothers built themselves in an empty Alicante premises, funded without institutional support, where Jorge says he has trained Ilia and Aleksandre since they arrived at 15.
Where in the source: Feature text: "llegados con 15 años"; the gym built by the brothers themselves
Accessed:
Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage