UFC KO Artist Ilia Topuria Opens Up About Traumatizing Childhood: “We Were Bullied” 

No one would have expected dominant UFC fighter Ilia Topuria to have undergone bullying during his school days.

UFC KO Artist Ilia Topuria Opens Up About Traumatizing Childhood: “We Were Bullied” 

Ilia Topuria (via Yahoo Sports)

In Short
  • Ilia Topuria shared his experiences of being bullied during his childhood, highlighting the emotional impact it had on him.
  • He emphasized the importance of support from trusted individuals in overcoming the negative effects of bullying.
  • Topuria also discussed his humble beginnings and the need to work from a young age to support his family financially.

Bullying remains a damaging part that most people may have gone through at some point in their lives. Even for a UFC fighter, it is the same. Most notably, former UFC double champion Georges St-Pierre spoke about being bullied in his early teen years. Now, current UFC lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria, has come up with his side of experiencing bullying in his early years.

Born to Georgian parents in Germany, Topuria and his family moved around and eventually settled in Spain. Not much is known about the lightweight champion’s early life with elder brother, Aleksandre Topuria, other than their combat sports training. As such, ‘El Matador’ opening up about his school days and the effects of bullying in a recent podcast has surprised many fans.

We were bullied at the school. There was constant confrontation with the kids at the school, and you have to stand up for yourself a lot of the time. I was always a kid who didn’t like confrontation in the street, but sometimes you have to face those kind of situations, and I felt afraid. It awakens a sadness; you start to feel less, you don’t have that courage until you speak up.

Ilia Topuria said on Charlas Adictivas podcast

The UFC lightweight champion admitted that he didn’t like confrontations in his younger days, and felt inferior when older kids came for his lunch money among other things. As such, Topuria felt like he had to share his weaknesses with the people that he trusted and needed courage to open up. It was with the help from his trusted people that ‘El Matador’ conquered the bad effects of bullying.

In recent times, Topuria also opened up about his divorce proceedings with Giorgina Uzcategui, and how he had to wait some time before being allowed to see his daughter. It was definitely a tough time for the Georgian-Spanish fighter as he took a break from competing in MMA. Eventually, Topuria completed all the legal proceedings and was allowed to see his daughter again.

With that complicated chapter in his life completed, ‘El Matador’ will now attempt to unify the lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje at the UFC White House event. It remains to be seen if Topuria can continue his KO streak with all the layoff that he went through.

Ilia Topuria opens up about working from a young age

The family background of Ilia Topuria remains a mystery to some fans. Last year, rumors started flowing around that ‘El Matador’ came from a rich family. UFC legend Daniel Cormier was among the few to comment about Topuria’s past. However, Topuria later refuted those claims that he came from a rich family, and Cormier issued an apology.

Ilia Topuria, after knocking out Charles Oliveira
Ilia Topuria after knocking out Charles Oliveira (via X)

On the Charlas Adictivas podcast, Topuria opened up about what all happened once his family came to settle down in Spain. Just like any family moving to a new place, there was an adjusting phase for the Topuria family. Due to financial reasons, the lightweight champion had to find work to support his family.

We come from a humble beginning where we never lacked love and a healthy family bond, but the economic resources were quite tight. So, we had to work to sustain anything we wanted to do in our life. So, we started working on beaches.

Ilia Topuria said on Charlas Adictivas podcast

‘El Matador‘ also spoke about how he had to manage work and focus on his MMA career. Topuria admitted that it was a complicated process, but it was “super fun” after living through those hardships and accomplishing his dream of becoming a UFC champion.

The Georgian-Spanish fighter concluded by saying something very inspirational on the podcast. He wanted to make things happen rather than let things happen to him. Having such a mindset could be the reason why Topuria looks unstoppable inside the octagon.

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