By The Numbers: Ilia Topuria

While Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway were busy swallowing up the headlines, Ilia Topuria was making his way up the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight mountain. He reached the top in 2024, shedding his contender designation for that of a champion and pound-for-pound ace.

Topuria has rattled off 16 consecutive wins to start his career, 14 of them finishes. He last saw action at UFC 308, where he retained his undisputed featherweight title and cut down the previously indestructible Holloway with punches in the third round of their Oct. 26 main event. It was the first knockout loss of the Hawaiian’s remarkable 34-fight career. Topuria enters his 2025 campaign with something of…