Ilia Topuria's message to the MMA world: "I'm at the next level of the sport."

For years, Ilia Topuria has been carrying a slogan: "I am the evolution of mixed martial arts (MMA)." He'd been saying it for a long time, to the incredulous eyes of spectators who watched him rise slowly within the UFC. However, over time, those words have become reality. The era of one-dimensional fighters, who relied on a single discipline, is over . Also coming to an end is the era of fighters who are good in two areas—striking and grappling, for example—or who have the basics of defending themselves and keeping the fight on their own turf.

We're now in a time where, to succeed, you have to be good at everything . You have to master every aspect of the game. Striking, with everything it encompasses (punching, defense, kicks, elbows, knees, etc.); wrestling, the epicenter of the fight, where you can decide whether to perform takedowns, defend your opponent's takedowns, or apply pressure on the fence; and finally, ground and mortar, the well-known Brazilian jiujitsu. To be a great fighter and aspire to the top , you have to be a master of all the angles from which an MMA fight can unfold.

Athletes like Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev are standing out precisely for this reason: they're good at everything. Logically, each one masters one thing more, but they don't neglect the rest. For example, Oliveira was from that old school. First, he dominated on the ground; no one could stand up to him in jiujitsu. That's why he's the fighter with the most submissions in the UFC. Then, he incorporated Muay Thai into his game, making him twice as dangerous . However, wrestling was never something he excelled at. Even so, he could stand up to anyone, managing to stand out and establish himself at the top. "Oliveira is at the highest level of his sport, but I'm at the next level ," Ilia Topuria explained in an interview with UFC.

There's another mandatory aspect: research . Analyzing your opponent is key to predicting their moves, knowing what they're most likely to try to do to you, and seeing their strengths and weaknesses. El Matador, in addition to dominating all MMA competitions, does excellent research. All of this is what leads him to say that he's "at the next level." In the same interview, he explained this by using his fight with the Brazilian as an example. "As soon as they confirmed the fight, I started watching all of Oliveira's fights . I've always been a fan of this sport, but when I have a specific opponent, I study him closely. And when I saw him, I thought: ' He won't be able to do anything against me . He doesn't move. He just moves forward. He doesn't even know how to fight backward,'" he recounted.

“Normally, it only takes me to knock someone out when I close the distance. But with him? He’s coming right at me. I knew we’d meet in the middle of the Octagon, and as soon as I start landing punches, he won’t even see them coming,” he concluded. That study, that preparation, allowed him to warn throughout fight week that he would knock him out in the first round. Many saw it as impossible, but Ilia Topuria knew how hard he had worked. The result was as promised: a knockout in less than three minutes from the sound of the bell. A crushing victory, his rise to first place in the pound-for-pound world championship and his second belt , the tenth in history to achieve this feat, the first to do so undefeated.