Climent didn’t foresee Topuria having rapid recognition rise
SOME people mistake confidence for arrogance, but when you do exactly as you promised in the fashion Ilia Topuria managed during his UFC 298 championship opportunity against Alexander Volkanovski last month, people are bound to stand up and take notice – regardless of their pre-fight opinions.
The 27-year-old produced an impressive second-round stoppage against a long-reigning champion in his second consecutive UFC headliner, having earned top billing after comprehensively outpointing Josh Emmett last June.
That fiery experience would have served him well, going the full 25-minute distance against a longtime contender who, up until the previous year, was riding the crest of momentum himself and a fight away from touching championship gold at 145lbs.
During an interview with MMA Junkie in Spanish, Climent acknowledges he didn’t expect his charge’s popularity to blossom the way it has in Spain – especially still being regarded as a niche sport with largely limited exposure for the most part.
When La Liga giants Real Madrid welcome you with open arms though and the series of athletes across multiple sports champion you, everything changes.
“Having confidence in what we are capable of, doesn’t mean I had the vision of what we’re seeing today. I never thought we were going to have the reach that we have now, be recognised in this manner.
Winning over the Real Madrid fanbase, being with the top politicians, being on television, heck, I even get recognised by older women. I say to myself, this is all so crazy but we’re staying as humble as possible and as grateful too.”
Topuria has been well-received across multiple nations since last month’s emphatic career-best victory, meeting Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez where he was promised national citizenship, doing the honorary kick-off before Real Madrid vs. Sevilla, while appearing on the country’s biggest talkshows and more besides.
The German-born champion gave a public address in Alicante soon afterwards – the town he relocated to as a 15-year-old – and was pictured alongside his girlfriend at an awards show in Madrid last week.
The promotion are naturally aware of Topuria’s growing stature and have publicly expressed a desire to finally debut in Spain. Climent naturally believes his fighter can headline and sell out a UFC pay-per-view event in the country’s most prestigious stadium, Real’s 81,000-seater home of the Santiago Bernabeu.
Despite a comeback win over Yair Rodriguez, former title challenger Brian Ortega might need another win to push himself in the title picture, while Volkanovski’s adamant a rematch will happen before year’s end and wouldn’t mind a European trip to exercise that privilege as the recently-defeated former champion.
Climent explained why he felt the 27-year-old, now 15-0 as a pro, would appeal to more than just Spanish fans with a headline event at the Bernabeu – a historic stadium that has recently undergone renovations to make it a multi-purpose stadium which attracts fans from other sports outside the traditional football season.
“Spain is the destination where all Europeans go on vacation, it’s very easy to come here and realise what paradise Spain is. I’m sure he sells it out. When you look at it from the outside, it’s closed like an arena – they have some machines covering the grass field, the seat sections can be made closer.
It’s all now automatic and new, they just reopened it this year. They’re projected to do the NFL, NBA, so they’re bringing in many new projects. Why not also the UFC?”
Picture source: Getty Images
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