Georgia has its first UFC world champion, and his name is Ilia Topuria.
On Saturday night, ‘El Matador’ entered the Octagon with an entire country behind him. Less than two rounds later, he shocked the world with a sensational second-round knockout of featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkavnoski to claim the 145-pound crown. It was a history-making moment for Topuria and his transcontinental home country.
To give the rest of the world an idea of how much Topuria’s victory means to the country, MMA reporter and fellow Georgian Giorgi Kokiashvili shared a video of thousands of fight fans celebrating in the streets after their native son did exactly what he said he was going to do.