Ilia Topuria isn’t just one of the UFC’s brightest active stars, he may be one of the biggest of all time.
On June 28, Topuria became the latest UFC lightweight champion after he knocked out Charles Oliveira in the first round to win the vacant belt.
The ferocious power of ‘El Matador’ was on full display once again as the undefeated phenom dismantled ‘Do Bronx’, an act which Topuria’s son perfectly replicated.
While his opponent was another one of the UFC’s biggest names, with Oliveira already achieving a great career, it was clear that UFC 317 was about one man for a lot of people.
After continuing what may go down as one of the greatest runs that we have ever seen inside the Octagon, it’s clear that Topuria’s status is only continuing to grow as he recently joined a very exclusive club.
Ilia Topuria joins the likes of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov in list of UFC fighters to surpass 10 million Instagram followers
In the days leading up to UFC 317, Ilia Topuria’s social media following on Instagram was rapidly growing as fight day drew closer.
His followers hit 9.5 million before he had even stepped inside the Octagon, meaning that he had already surpassed the social media status of the recently retired Jon Jones.
Unsurprisingly, that hasn’t slowed down after he claimed the lightweight title with a vicious knockout to cap off 2025’s International Fight Week.
At the time of writing, Topuria’s Instagram following has hit 10.1 million, making him just the fifth UFC fighter to cross the 10 million mark.
While he may still be a considerable way from hitting the kind of numbers that Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov have achieved, Topuria has only been in the UFC for five years.
At 28 years old, ‘El Matador’ will continue adding to this number for many more years to come.
| Current or former UFC fighter | Current Instagram following |
| Ilia Topuria | 10.1 million |
| Islam Makhachev | 10.4 million |
| Ronda Rousey | 17.1 million |
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | 39.7 million |
| Conor McGregor | 46.4 million |
Ilia Topuria’s next fight will boost this as he prepares for a huge grudge match
With plenty of big fights out there for him, Ilia Topuria’s social media climb won’t be slowing down anytime soon, especially if he can continue producing remarkable performances.
Following his win at UFC 317, Topuria was joined in the cage by his long-time rival Paddy Pimblett who earned a big win over Michael Chandler at UFC 314.
The two men shared an intense face-off which seemingly set up their grudge match as the next lightweight title fight.
Pimblett, who currently has 4.4 million followers, is another one of the UFC’s top stars and with the history between them, an eventual matchup would undoubtedly be one of the biggest fights that the UFC could make right now.