Ilia Topuria has been named the most marketable star in combat sports, according to a report from MMANews. The report’s headline did not spell out who compiled the ranking or how it was measured. What the week made obvious is that Topuria doesn’t need to fight to stay in the conversation, because his rivals keep dragging him into it.
Paddy Pimblett was the loudest. In a clip shared on X by @DovySimuMMA, Pimblett explained why he’d pick a rematch with Justin Gaethje over Topuria: “I’d take a rematch with Gaethje before Ilia because I want to be a world champion. I hate Ilia, don’t get me wrong. I’d rather beat Ilia and then beat Justin, but Justin’s got the belt.” In a separate clip relayed by @HappyPunch, Pimblett revealed he kept the hand sanitizer bottle he threw at Topuria’s head, and said, “When I have a press conference with him, that will be coming with me.”
Arman Tsarukyan went after his wrestling. “I think if you brought him to Chechnya or Dagestan, into any gym, even the amateurs would be able to take him down and ground and pound him,” Tsarukyan said, in a clip posted to X by @DovySimuMMA. The numbers argue otherwise. Topuria holds a 95.2% takedown defense rate, second best in UFC history, and he started Greco-Roman wrestling at a local school in Georgia when he was seven.
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That backstory is a big part of why he travels so well as a brand. Topuria was born in Halle Westfalen, Germany, to Georgian parents who were refugees from Abkhazia, then moved to Alicante, Spain, at 15 after the Russo-Georgian War. He became the first Georgian and Spanish fighter to win a UFC title, and he went on to hold belts at featherweight and lightweight, the first undefeated fighter to win UFC championships in two divisions.
He sits at 17-1 and No. 3 at lightweight in Knockout Daily’s rankings, with his last fight on June 14, 2026. Wikipedia lists him at No. 5 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings as of June 16.
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Pimblett’s own words point to where this is heading. Gaethje holds the belt, and both Pimblett and Topuria are circling it. If Topuria and Pimblett do end up behind the same podium, Pimblett has already told us what he’s packing.
Topuria, for his part, spent part of the week behind the wheel of a KTM X-Bow GT-XR in Georgia, according to video posted on Instagram and shared by @ChampRDS.
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