New featherweight champion Ilia Topuria speaks with the press after his knockout victory over Alexander Volkanovski in the main …
good night to everyone El congratulations I mean uh listen you were confident all along you predicted you’d be here you said you’d be Champion but now that you’re sitting there with the belt you did what you just did what’s the emotion like for you right now I feel amazing man I feel very thankful and I just can’t wait to live this place and enjoy with the team and with my family I imagine we won’t keep you here too long uh competitive opening round right I mean obviously you had a lot of respect for him all three judges actually gave him the opening round what did you think about the first five minutes and and how he was as an opponent versus what you expected to see first of all I don’t need the judges when I’m fighting they they can go and and take their time to break and rest a little bit but yes man the the guy was really fast very very fast Jabs his movements I don’t know with his kicks he’s surpris urised me a little bit it it took me a little bit of time to to sty him and I had to knock him out in the second round yeah it seemed you really gained confidence in the second round um was it just figuring out his timing his rhythm like what changed that you gained that confidence and did you know that right hand would be there to finish the fight I was just waiting to to find my timing you know he he he I don’t know how to say he catched me with with couple of punches he catched me with couple of punches and he was like celebrating like hahaa and I was like now it’s my turn wait for that wait for that and the game plan since the first moment was to to to to do a long combinations not just a one two punches not like combinations of three four five punches because it’s it’s more difficult to read com a long combinations than just combination with two punches so yeah we did a great jump I become a world champion I’m very happy and very thank thankful with God to give me all these moments to be a able to live it and I was able to enjoy to during the whole week so very happy he’s really really interested in the rematch whether it’s next or not maybe fight somebody else first but given how great he was as a champion do you believe he deserves a rematch with you at some point so he’s such a good person you know and to be honest at this point I’m like okay I’m going to give him the rematch because he’s a good person but at the same time it’s time to move on it’s time to clean up a little bit to division you know it’s time for the new generation to to have a new challenges new faces and I think I I will I will be looking for that but to be honest my job is it’s to fight whoever they going to tell me I have to face and fight next I will be there so that’s it last thing for me undefeated Champion what’s your goal as Champion you know some people want to be champ champs two divisions some want to you know have the most title defenses in UFC history like what’s your goal as UFC champion I don’t know right now I don’t know my goal since the beginning was to become a UFC world champion now I have to go back home I have to meditate to visualize what are going to be the next take the the next steps that I’m going to take but for sure uh I’m going to make some big steps so yeah right here um you just mentioned you know you’ll fight whoever you’re the champion now does that mean you’ve kind of changed your tune on Max hallay and Y Rodriguez and Brian Ortega Max Holloway know all of them they they didn’t make any sense for me right now as I said I need new Challengers new ones so there are some upcoming fights we’ll see what how they going to play out and you’re going to see Matador for a while so um you I mean you mentioned all these people who have had their title shots already the one person in that top five who hasn’t is M sarv and you guys have some history you’re supposed to fight I think here in Anaheim at one point um is that a fight you want to revisit undefeated versus undefeated look mosar is a a a good fight for me I would love to fight him but the guy has eight fights in the UFC eight decisions zero submissions zero knock codes from eight decisions four split decisions man come on he needs to finish someone maybe they can find someone for him in in in his hometown I don’t know maybe he can fight with his dad or something like that and finish him I don’t know but he needs to finish someone you know because like the record he has right now yeah it’s it seems nice he’s undefeated but man the guy didn’t finish anyone so he needs to do something and just last thing on a rematch with Alex um I think a lot of people given his work think that’s would would be deserved but he just was knocked out twice in four months do you think it would be a bad idea for him to rush back at this point I think that’s the fight in the vision which makes more sense than a any fight you know so we’ll see we’ll see I don’t know I have to I have to sit down with my management team with the UFC and we’ll see what what what’s the future is holding for me over here wasn’t just a big night for Spain but also a big night for Georgia you and Moro picked up big wins today so how does that feel for you in the Georgian Community feels amazing let let let me send a small message for all my Georgian [Music] fans see it means a lot to me it means a lot to me and I’m a lucky man to be able to represent such a great countries like Spain and Georgia awesome and I know you just did what you just did to volkanovski out there but in a potential rematch is there something you would approach differently or is it going out with that same attitude and just game plan for that one too I don’t know if if the UFC offers me to to to bring the UFC to Spain and do the rematch with wosi I mean let’s go let’s do it no problem just for everybody um this week uh throughout the week actually mentioned the important of meditation so how important was meditation for you throughout this week before this fight uh when you don’t know what port you’re sailing to you’re lost and you don’t know where to go in anyway we we’ll do it so it’s very important for every human being to understand where they’re going and to step a little bit and and and visualize them I so for me this is what I did in meditation so data white mentioned when you was here that when asked about the Santiago B that would be a possibility how do you feel about that so we have to we have to have a couple of glasses of wine with him and convince him about it uh if they don’t you said if you don’t if they if you get the uh the fight of bernabel what other Arenas would you like to fight in uh listen if I can actually fight the babell me there’s no other this would be great and a message for all [Music] um uh of gratitude and thank you for the motivation inspiration that you’ve been uh that you have G for me so uh it’s a message for all of you it doesn’t matter where you’re from it really matters where you’re going and it doesn’t matter um what you’ve been through in your life this is all of us have a purpose and uh you have to believe in yourself and keep going doing the work that’s hey I I just have one question you mentioned having wine with Dana would that be Georgian wine or Spanish wine both of them both of them for sure we’re going to have time to taste both of them thank you Elia speaking with some of the Spanish media they mentioned that you’ve actually had some difficulty obtaining uh legal paperwork for citizenship in Spain I’m curious how bringing a UFC belt and potentially an event that generates millions of dollars I I don’t know who told you that but I didn’t I didn’t have any difficults with that’s okay I must have misunderstood no worries first of all um congratulations on the win uh obviously it was mentioned that the UFC will go to Spain uh for depending on you what would be the date for Cardon Bank dude I just finish a fight I have no idea where I’m going to fight again all I want is have some drinks with people have enjoy with my family and I have and then I’ll have some time to think about the next fight just I just wanted to talk about your your strategy in the first round we saw some distance we saw some distance management we saw you kind of doing things little by little uh was that the game plan what was the real game plan for for you to actually [Applause] that um actually wanting to go after him and pressure him the first round that wasn’t my intention I just said listen I would like to be able to like that’s what I want to do uh everybody when they asked me the question I say this is what I want to do that’s my desire but that’s not exactly what I’m going to do uh do you think that a such a dominant win against the balam that has never lost like that in the division does that make you automatically into a superstar I don’t know if that makes into a superstar or not but I can tell you I’ve always thought of myself as a superstar since they number one I’ve always believed in myself and the the opinions of others it doesn’t matter on this it matters you what I believe in myself and the opinions of my family and those who are close to me and uh one final question the social media is on fire everybody’s asking what’s the celebration going to be like you’re going to Madrid you’re going to alante where you going I’m good right now we’re actually going to we’re going to Beverly Hills and everybody’s get drink father everybody we’re we’re we’re going to get drunk we’re going to turn up and how important actually listening to all them how important it is to be you know having these people behind you with Jim two Argentine brothers from malante um and being with them throughout this journey [Music] this is another example what what what I said you know it doesn’t matter where you’re from it doesn’t matter what happens happens it doesn’t when you actually would say for for for the Youth out there you need to have a badass gym with with the the best equipment ever know we’re the proof that we did our work uh we we we we really struggle that we we put in the work to get where we are and look at where we are right now we have a belt and a final question you have just become a UFC champion I understand this but do you understand what it means now do you are I have I have no idea I have no idea can you explain it to me listen it’s winning a championship belt against a legend I I’ve I’ve put in a lot of hard work and I do have a lot of work ahead of me for the new generations that’s what I want I have a good big purpose in my life and that’s what I’m going to put my my effort [Applause] on Ilia over here um you’ve been calling out Conor McGregor Dana White said very unlikely Conor fights at 145 if he even fights again because who said that I I want to fight him at 145 where where do you want to fight him without any R limit there is no weights if I fight him he can choose it I give him that that option if he feels that he’s ready for this level of competition he can choose the weight ah thank you and also I choose the place also uh after you you swipe the belt from old man volkanovski Thursday at the press conference how does it feel to know that’s actually yours feels amazing man it feels it feels great I can’t even explain it you have to live it and follow up on Conor McGregor you have asked for Conor McGregor after being a champion why Conor [Music] McGregor because Connor represents the last chapter in in MMA so in order to actually go through that last chapter and leave him behind uh forgotten that’s it that’s where I need to go thank you very much everyone