Likely the biggest star on the UFC’s books right now, Ilia Topuria continues to draw comparisons to Conor McGregor.
Making history over the weekend, Topuria would land his second Octagon title just five years into his tenure in the UFC.
And furthermore, with his win, the Spaniard would become the first fighter to win two championships — all while boasting an unbeaten record.
Stopping Charles Oliveira with a vicious knockout, Topuria added him to a run containing title wins over both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
And as far as another ex-champion is concerned, Topuria is reaching the McGregor-level of greatness during this run.
Aljamain Sterling touts Ilia Topuria’s title run as better than Conor McGregor’s
Himself winning his titles with successes over the trio of Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, and then Eddie Alvarez — McGregor’s run has been put up against Topuria’s. But ex-bantamweight kingpin Sterling maintains that the Spaniard’s is simply far greater in terms of star power.
It’s [Ilia Topuria’s run] greater than Conor’s (McGregor) run,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “…Ilia has done the craziest and greatest thing that we’ve ever seen from a modern-day UFC fighter.
“This is no shade towards Conor – I would say his best run in terms of name value was Chad Mendes, but it was short notice,” Sterling added. “We’ve got to be honest about that.
“But then you have Ilia. His last three people have been some of the greatest combat athletes of all time.
“It’s insane what this guy has done… and the way he’s doing it.”
And this is not the first time this week Topuria has been compared to another great from the sport.
Ilia Topuria on the verge of matching Jon Jones, according to ex-UFC stalwart
Matching the retired Jones in his second title success over the weekend, Topuria still remains in his own league — above McGregor even, given his undefeated record in combat sports.
And with Jones officially done with fighting, Topuria can match, if not surpass, the former, according to Matt Brown, who highlighted his rise to stardom in the UFC.
“Ilia to me is on the verge of we start comparing him to like Jon Jones,” Brown told MMA Fighting.
“To me, if he goes out and beats an Arman (Tsarukyan) or maybe Islam (Makhachev)… we’re starting to talk about Jon Jones level greatness. Start making comparisons.”
Furthermore, with a fight against Paddy Pimblett seemingly on the horizon, particularly as the Englishman rules himself out of UFC 319, Topuria has a chance to increase his popularity even more.