[0:00]Now for our main event, on the biggest stage, Ilia, The Matador, Topuria. It doesn't matter what what what people say or what what people think about me. I know that I'm going to be the biggest superstar in the UFC because of all the things you are going to see.
[0:30]On February 2024, Ilia Topuria walks into the Octagon. Across from him is Alexander Volkanovski, the Pound for Pound King. For years, Alex seemed like an unsolvable puzzle that nobody could figure out. But here's the thing, two months prior to the fight, Ilia goes viral after changing his Instagram bio. 15-0, UFC World Champion, despite being 14-0 at the time. No belt, no title shot yet, but to him it was already done. It doesn't stop there. Ilia goes on a press tour telling the media exactly what's going to happen in the fight. I see myself knocking him out in the first two rounds.
[1:19]The crowd goes wild and then he does it again. And the silence that followed said everything. A few months later, Ilia made the same call against Max Holloway. Ilia, why do you think that you're the person that can knock out Max? He's never been knocked out in his career. Because he never faced Ilia Topuria, he never faced El Matador. He never faced someone like me, never. And you already know how that ended. Oh, massive knockdown from Topuria! And still! He does it again! And here's the part that nobody talks about. It's not just Ilia. All the greatest champions, they predict the future like they're fortune tellers. all of you chumps are gonna bow when I whoop him. I know you got him picked, but the man's in trouble. I'm gonna show you how great I am. You can call me Mystic Mac because I predict these things. Now, the real question is, what's the secret? The year 1992, a war broke out in the country of Georgia. What started a fight for territory became something darker. Over 10,000 civilians were killed. More than 200,000 ethnic Georgians were forced from their homes. Ilia Topuria's parents, Zaza and Inga escaped the genocide and fled to Germany. That's where he was born in 1997, alongside his brother Alexander. Ilia was only four when he looked at his brother and said, Let's wrestle. It didn't seem like much, but that moment would shape the rest of their lives. With four years old, my my dad put me with my brother in Judo. Ilia and his brother trained in different martial arts growing up. When he was seven, the war had ended and it was time to return to Georgia.
[3:09]That's when they started Greco-Roman wrestling, the first sport they dedicated themselves to. things in Georgia weren't good. There was no money, no stability, just chaos. So the parents left for Spain, hoping to build something better, leaving Ilia and his brother behind. The war started once my parents leave us, a year after or something like that in 2008. When you are 8, 9 years old and you dealing with that kind of situation, you don't have your heroes with you, which are your parents. With that age, it's a little bit difficult. But at this moment, I appreciate everything that I lived because it creates the man I am today. Rustavi, Georgia, wasn't the safest place to grow up in. The country was still recovering from war and the streets had their own rules. In Georgia, I was fighting everyday. Their mother Inga was quoted saying: It was not rare, it was a daily routine. Whenever they were in the streets, they were fighting. Imagine multiple boys would appear. They would come out and tell you they wanted your hat and your belt. There were three ways. Giving up, running away, and fighting. Ilia and Alexander always preferred to fight, and at the end of the day, they always had their hat and belt. We had a difficult times, but today I appreciate everything that I lived because I wouldn't be here without that experience. Zaza Topuria worked 7 days a week, doing whatever it took to bring his sons to Spain and give his family a fresh start. Their coach in Georgia thought they had a great future in Greco-Roman wrestling. He always said he could turn them into Olympic champions. However, life takes turns and children have to be at their parent's side. A gold medal is nice, but being with your parents is more important. then we moved to Spain when I was 15 years old and completely by chance. We find the gym and we started training MMA the mixed martial art. Totally by chance? Totally by chance. We wanted to keep with the with the with the Greco Roman wrestling, but they didn't have the culture of that sport. We were a little bit sad, you know, because we wanted that sport. My brother was really, really good. I didn't know anything about the mixed martial arts. I didn't know anything anything about the BJJ, the ground game, any f***ing thing. My mom saw in the street a a a man with a cauli cauliflower ear, you know. You know, you can identify very fast a wrestler or a When you see that you know not to f*** with that person. She went to him and she asked him like, what you're doing? Because my kids want to to do wrestling. Do you train in some gym or or something? And he said, No, I'm doing the BJJ, bring your kids and I'm going to I'm going to show you the gym. She came to home and my dad and and my mom and they started to convince us, like, there's a gym, they are practicing, like jiu jitsu, MMA, all the sports. And I was like, what the f*** is this? I don't know what is this. And my dad start started to show me the videos of the Gracie's. He he told me like, this is one of the best sports in the world right now. You are going out, guys love it, this and that. And at that day, we went to the gym and I felt in love since the first second. Since the day we we step in, we didn't came out until now.
[6:33]When I arrived, the atmosphere, the scene I saw, I saw the boys training. The truth is the atmosphere inspired me a lot and I said, this is the place.
[6:45]I didn't know even how to say hello, you know, when they arrived, they had a good wrestling background. They had that to will to continue training because they are warriors, and they also have a gift that allows them to learn everything very quickly. And I was training all the time. The coach was explaining me all the techniques in Spanish, and I learned to talk in Spanish like in six months. And I was young, you know, right? When you are young, it's a little bit easier. When I was 15 years old, I go with my brother to talk to my father, and we tell him like, Hey, Dad, we don't want to go to school anymore, but we we really want to train and we're going to go like all day, every day into the gym, and we're going to be going to train because my dream was to get to fight in the UFC.
[7:30]And he told me, like, if you're really going to train all the time, like you tell me, you have my my approval. And you just went to the gym all day? All day, all day. And I was with my brother. We were like the first people to go inside the gym and the last ones to leave. So we were studying every day, all day, like so obsessed. We were watching like all the videos of Julio Cesar Chavez, all Canelo, all that, practicing all the techniques. And then and then we were drilling that. Wow. The whole day, the whole drilling. Uh single legs, double legs, I don't know, the cage work, boxing, kickboxing, elbows and knees, I don't know, whatever. How can we develop our cardio or strength or power or whatever? I was like, so obsessed with everything. I was working all day, every day. That was my obsession. But there's not a professional UFC fighter that's coaching you guys with your career, not even a professional boxer or professor at all? No one. But also at the same time I always wanted to find something to do. What I could dedicate my heart to, you know what I tell you, and in the end, when I was training, I said, but why not dedicate this to 100%? Because when I was little, a phrase that it was in my head, who always told me my wrestling coach was the one who wants to marry two rabbits, ends up with none. After two years of training, he was ready for his MMA amateur debut. But there was a problem. At that time, it was very difficult for us to get him a fight outside of the gym. The sport in Spain wasn't very developed. Then the opportunity came in the least expected way. His debut fight happened in front of the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. When I was 17 years old, they did a competition called Arnold Fighters. You know, it was a MMA competition. And when I go to the competition, my fight was the first fight, you know, and before I start to fight, Arnold come to the cage, you know. And he watched just my fight. Wow.
[9:35]The man was only there for 10 minutes, and he spent all 10 minutes watching my fight.
[9:52]Everyone wants a picture like you! Coincidences in life don't ever exist. It's a destiny that God has for you.
[10:02]One year after his amateur debut, when Ilia turned 18, he stepped into his first professional fight. super nervous, super nervous. Like I didn't even want to go up. I was doubting everything and saying, what the hell am I doing here? Why didn't I study? What am I doing here for my parents? From the opening seconds Topuria was in control, he took his opponent down, locked him in a crucifix, grounded and pounded him. Then, without hesitation, finished him with a reverse triangle.
[10:34]Despite how fighting made him nervous, it didn't stop him. Just one month after his debut, Topuria stepped in again. 63 seconds later, his opponent was unconscious from a rear naked choke. He was only 18 and already a problem. That's when it became clear this wasn't luck. This was something else. So from Spain to get to the UFC was so difficult, I had to do so many crazy things to to get to the UFC. I did four fights in Spain and at some point it was so difficult to find the fight for me because in Spain at that point we didn't even had an events, you know, I was like, Listen, I have to do something because no one is going to come to me and touch my door. I started to talk to myself, I'm like, what can I do? At that point, Gustafsson Alexander Gustafsson was fighting for the belt against Jon Jones. And that guy was training in Sweden in Allstars Gym at that time and that was the most recognized gym in Europe. So I'm like, I need to go there because I know that someone is going to see me and the only thing I need is I need the opportunity. I need a I need a fight. I need to prove my my skills. Then I had the second problem that I didn't have enough money to to travel because you need money to go from Spain to to Sweden and stay there, I don't know, for two weeks, three weeks, whatever. So I did, I don't know, crazy things with when I was 18 years old, I was working in four works, you know, What were the jobs? The four jobs? One of the one was a cashier, right? At the Stradivarius? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was doing grappling classes in another gym. I was working in on the beach and I was working as a security on on the weekends. Oh, wow. I went to my, my first training, I finished the training and the guy who was representing everyone at that time and actually he's the manager of Khamzat also at this time Khamzat Chimaev, you know, once I finished the training, he came to me and he asked me like, do you have a a manager? I'm like, No, do you want me to represent you? And I'm like, this is why I came here. Ladies and gentlemen, to the blue corner, Ilia Topuria. In one week, he called me like, I have a fight for you. I started to fight in Finland, my first international fight. I finished him in the first round.
[13:17]Ladies and gentlemen, winner by Guillotine Choke, Ilia Topuria.
[13:27]Three weeks later, Ilia gets the call to fight for Cage Warriors Championship. But fortunately he wasn't eligible to win the belt. Ilia came in almost 5lbs over the weight limit. Ilia signed with Brave FC and ran through everyone they put in front of him.
[13:47]Then he had a perfect knockout that made it impossible for the UFC to not notice him.
[13:56]This guy, Ilia Topuria, and Ilia Topuria is one of the absolute best fighters in the world, and the dude is just f***ing phenomenal.
[14:08]2020 was supposed to be a banner year, a year now defined by a global pandemic. The NBA is suspending the season, while sports across the globe go dark. Dana White says the show will go on for UFC. I don't give a f***. I get the call. Yeah, that's covid. I was sick. I test positive, like 10 days before the fight, and they call me and they told me, do you want to fight in the UFC and eight days. And I'm like, of course. I had to cut like 12 kilos. I had to spend the day in the hospital because the UFC is asking you for a lot of medicals. Then I had to go spend the day to get my visa. I had, in reality, five days, and I said, Look, opportunities like this don't come every day, especially ones like this, you know?
[15:07]This is my dream, and I don't care that it's only 8 days, I'm going to I will take my chance. And that's where the whole story began.
[15:21]There's the new coming Ilia Topuria. Ready?
[15:32]It's non-stop one submission to the next. He changed things together so well. For your winner by unanimous decision, he is still undefeated. Ilia Topuria.
[15:48]Ilia became the first Georgian black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu along with his brother Alex. Although the brothers started their journey together, as Ilia's career took off after signing to the UFC, Alex seemed to get left behind. This year since 2015, I become Ilia Topuria's my brother's coach. But when Ilia get the UFC contract, I start to train harder and little by little like make fights. And when Ilia don't have fights, it's it was like a little bit difficult to me. My sacrifices, my hard work, you know, to like cancel my fight, to dedicate myself to him and everything like that. It was not just for him, for sure, it was for me too. If your brother is better than you, it's like, oh, I'm very happy for him and I will do everything to make that happen. That one day they're going to say, Ilia the greatest. This is what I want. This is my goal. And still it's still my goal. Everything I do is for my family. And if I have to put on the side, sport my career, or something like that, because of one of the my family members, I will not think twice. When Alexander saw the opportunity in front of Ilia, he didn't hesitate and did what any loyal brother would do. He stepped back, putting his career on hold and made sure his brother was ready for what they'd worked their whole life for.
[17:22]Ilya came into the UFC quiet, no hype train, no marketing push. But once the cage door closed, it didn't matter. Three fights, three knockouts, all violent, all clean. He made it look easy. Unbelievable knockout. By his fourth fight, the UFC has seen enough.
[17:45]They gave him Bryce Mitchell, undefeated, ranked, and expect it to be a real problem.
[17:57]But it wasn't just Ilia's fighting skills that got him here. It was his mentality. Many people needs to see to believe, I believe. And then I see.
[18:09]Ilia is obviously talented. Everything is so sharp. His technique is flawless. Everything's flawless. His boxing is so dangerous. He's so dangerous everywhere. He's dangerous with submissions. He's dangerous kicking. He's dangerous. His heart is dangerous. He isn't just a killer in the ring. His success starts with his strategic thinking. His fighting IQ is top tier. Tactically, he's so smart. You know, so it's not just his ability skill. It's knowing when to apply it and how to adjust to different kinds of fighters. But his strategy extends beyond fighting. He's also calculated in his trash talking, social media presence and career plan. Last time he got an unsanitized bottle bounced off his foot. I don't understand you anything.
[18:59]For example, he started recording footage to make a documentary about becoming a UFC champion years before he even had a title fight. Why? Because Ilia thinks long term. When I start with the with the Greco-Roman wrestling, my dream always was to become an Olympic champion, right? So it was always in my head that in everything I was doing, my dream always was to be the best, best in anything I was doing. So when I started with MMA, I was like, which is the biggest competition in the mixed martial arts? They talked me the UFC. So since the first day, I was like, I will become a UFC world champion. I never was like, I want to become a UFC champion, will become a UFC world champion. Most people want immediate success. They chase quick wins, short cuts, anything that feels like progress. Now, it works in the short term, but it cost them later on. Ilia is different. He's playing a longer game and it's hard to beat someone who's thinking years ahead, while you're focusing on the next few weeks. That kind of mindset goes against human nature, but it works because real results don't come fast. They come from consistency over time. Warren Buffett made 99% of his net worth after 65. Conor McGregor made most of his wealth after 10 years in the game. It compounds the business in fighting life. Ilia stays patient because he knows the work he's doing today pays off tomorrow and years from now, he shows up with a plan. And sure, most fighters say they do, too. But in real life, most people don't. They just show up and hope for the best. So ask yourself, where could you be, If you are the one with a plan, when no one else has one? I wake up in the morning, I pray and I feel thankful about everything that's happening to me for the opportunity. And I thank the gods before I'm getting the victory, thinking to him like, thank you for the victory. As a kid, my coach in Greco-Roman wrestling, he used to say, you win the medals in the training. You just go to collect them in the in the fight. And this has downsides, you know. The confidence, it's very good. It could be called cocky though. And a lot of people feel like there's some pressure that comes with that. Not for me, because I work hard. It's hard work and dedication. I work so hard. I know everything that I did, that I did everything that I could. And there is no way that I'm not going to walk out from that Octagon with the victory. From there's where the confident comes from. But the best military leaders throughout history have used the exact same tactics. And the art of war, Sun Tzu says, so in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable at night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt. Ilia uses strategy to his advantage. Visualizing the fight before it even starts. He sees the outcome in his head that makes it happen. When I get the confirmation of the fight and I started watching his fights, I was like, I'm going to knock him out in the first round. There's no way he's going to let me. Every fighter says that. I can show you a videos making the the study of Charles like, Oh, that's what you guys study? Wait, what is this? He gives me the resume of all his fights, all the punches he he choose, everything he does and which place in the Octagon he feels comfortable like, for example like the corner of the of the Octagon is the number one, the middle is the number two, this place is the number three.
[22:52]So we see in all his fights where's the number that he feels more comfortable. So I'm not going to give you the chance to be there. I'm going to fight for that place. I'm going to put you in the place where you don't feel comfortable, where you don't know how to fight. It's the same approach Conor McGregor used at his prime, breaking down opponents before the fight and finishing them. Exactly how he said he would. This year toughest test today? If Conor can fight half as good as he can speak, You know, I think it would be Dustin thinks it's all talk. But when he wakes up with his nose plastered on the other side of his face, he's going to know it's not all talk. You know what's even more genius? He worked on the exact same thing and he mimicked what he was going to do in the green room. There's video of him. Of who? Conor. Conor pretending to be Aldo, and then him showing what he's going to do and counter. He does the exact move in the green room, knowing in the dressing room, knowing that that's going to be the fight. Oh, just like that! How do you do that? How do you predict these things? I mean, if you can see it here, and you have the courage enough to speak it, it will happen.
