“Unofficial president of Spain at this point” – Newly crowned Ilia Topuria’s INCREDIBLE ovation has world MMA fans in awe of fighter’s stardom

New champion Ilia Topuria receives an incredible live ovation, as the Alicante-Georgian shoots up in fame ever more.

“Unofficial president of Spain at this point” – Newly crowned Ilia Topuria’s INCREDIBLE ovation has world MMA fans in awe of fighter’s stardom

New champion Ilia Topuria has been collecting much pomp and applause after his title win (Source: IMAGO/Instagram)

The featherweight division saw a recent change in guard at UFC 298. Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski suffered a shocking loss at the hands of Spaniard Ilia Topuria. Following his sensational knockout title win, ‘El Matador‘ is over the moon. This was apparent by the spectacle of 80,000 Spanish fans welcoming him back home.

The Alicante-Georgian native is the first Spanish fighter to hold a title gold in the UFC. As such, this garnered a lot of respect towards the fighter. The fighter has received huge and unreal crowd appreciation before as well. A recent video (courtesy of El Partidazo de COPE) showed Ilia Topuria receiving a regal standing ovation from a live crowd on his home turf in Alicante, Spain.

YouTube video

In the lead-up to his title win, Topuria had strutted in best wishes from the likes of Spanish stars Andres Iniesta, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and others. Even before taking on the reigning 145lbs champ, Topuria had aimed to headline Real Madrid’s stadium, Santiago Bernabeu. His efforts to put his Spanish pride at the forefront haven’t gone unnoticed by fans.

FS Video

Moreover, at the behest of Pablo Motos, host of the Antena 3 talk show (in an interview with El Hormiguero), Topuria has gone a step further. After defeating Alexander Volkanovski, he met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. This was in his efforts for Spanish citizenship.

Fight fans react to Ilia Topuria getting a standing ovation from crowd at Alicante, Spain

Alexander Volkanovski lost out on his title gold very recently, facing Spaniard Ilia Topuria in his 6th defense. The Aussie lost his title via a second-round knockout at UFC 298. With the win, Topuria has thus advanced to an undefeated 15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC streak.

Fans react to Spaniard Ilia Topuria with spectacular ovation and bravos
Fans react to Spaniard Ilia Topuria with spectacular ovation and bravos (Source: Twitter/talkSport.com)

However, the matter of his shot at more fame and fandom keeps circling the news forums. After his title win, Topuria paraded his gold at his adopted home country of Spain during a Real Madrid vs. Sevilla honorary kickoff at the iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The incident saw thousands of fans greet the fighter with much grandeur. A similar crowd greeted Topuria at Alicante. Here’s how fans have reacted to it:

Consequently, a prime reaction noted – “Bro knocked out Volkanovski and is just the unofficial president of Spain now at this point.” Topuria’s victory tour remains nothing like the UFC fans have ever seen. Not even Khabib Nurmagomedov or Islam Makhachev had such a tour following their maiden title win. Topuria will likely return towards the end of the year.

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