Topuria and McGregor, kindred spirits

Becoming a champion in any sport is extraordinary—but doing it with the same timing and milestones as another legendary athlete is truly rare. Just like Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, where the young Spaniard won five Grand Slams at the same age Nadal did, a striking similarity has emerged between Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor. The Georgian-Spanish contender earned two UFC belts at 28 years and 4 months old—the exact same age McGregor was when he achieved his UFC glory.

Topuria’s parallels with McGregor

When “El Matador” knocked out Charles Oliveira with a lethal right hook in the first round at UFC 317, fans couldn’t help but draw comparisons to McGregor’s legendary moment, when the Irishman unified the UFC featherweight title by knocking out José Aldo—also in the first round. Back then, McGregor only held one title, but Topuria’s win has catapulted him into rare territory: reigning over two divisions, featherweight and lightweight.

In the post-fight celebration, Ilia recreated the iconic pose, proudly holding both championship belts—just like McGregor did in 2016 after knocking out Eddie Alvarez to claim the lightweight throne. Hours later, McGregor, who has occasionally downplayed Topuria, publicly praised the rising star’s achievement.

McGregor deletes congratulatory Topuria message

“Congrats on winning my old titles, Illia!” McGregor tweeted, before later deleting the post. “He said he gonna rest his balls on Paddy [Pimblett’s] head too hahah fair play. Good LW [lightweight] scrap that one is as well imo [in my opinion]. 3 ko’s back to back is very good. No one can deny the knockout. I like [Topuria].”

Both fighters also seem to share opponents in the division. McGregor’s most high-profile fight came against Khabib Nurmagomedov, the former lightweight champ and now coach to Islam Makhachev—who is also a potential opponent for Topuria. Without a doubt, the paths of Conor and Ilia have striking parallels, but all signs point to “El Matador” soon surpassing the Irish icon’s accomplishments.

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