Recently-crowned UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria received some lofty recognition in his home country.
Topuria was honored at the Real Madrid soccer game at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday. More than 85,000 fans were in attendance as Topuria arrived with his championship belt and performed the honorary opening kickoff to begin the match.
Topuria’s star power in his home country is a major reason why the UFC hopes to bring an event to Spain in the near future.
“I would love to go to Spain so we’ve got to figure that out,” UFC CEO Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference in Mexico City. “We’ll start grinding and try to make that happen but the answer is yes, I want to do that and I want to do that this year.”
Topuria improved to 15-0 at UFC 298, when he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second-round to claim featherweight gold at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Feb. 17.
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