PM Awards ‘El Matador’ Spain Citizenship

Ilia Topuria continues to clean up during his nationwide victory tour.

In addition to his ceremonial kickoff ahead of Real Madrid’s soccer game against Sevilla, as well as his landmark cover photo on MARCA, the newly-crowned UFC champion was awarded Spanish citizenship by Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

“Your effort, dedication, perseverance have made you achieve your dream,” Sanchez wrote on Twitter. “The second one will soon become a reality. Your love for Spain will be reflected on your Spanish National identity document.”

The 27 year-old Topuria was born in Germany to Georgian parents and currently lives in Alicante after moving to Spain when he was just a teenager. “El Matador” (15-0) remains undefeated after stopping Alex Volkanovski to win the featherweight title at UFC 298.

“I will say this, it’s not very often I see somebody fight, and they do certain things, and I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, okay.’ Like, I think the last person who I felt that way about, to be honest, was Conor McGregor,” former UFC flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson told The MMA Hour.

“When he fought Diego Brandão, like, the way he would control distance, and how he would move, and he would throw the strikes and miss the counter and, like, just that how he puts himself into fire, I see Ilia Topuria do that,” Johnson continued.

A date and opponent for Topuria’s first title defense have yet to be determined.