Ahead of what could be its largest show to date, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship has worked with its broadcast
partner on some special programming.
Via a release on Thursday from the UFC’s broadcasting partner of
Paramount, a documentary focusing on part of Ilia
Topuria’s fighting career will be releasing on its streaming
platform. The doc will drop on June 1 on Paramount+, a couple weeks
before the
UFC White House event which is headlined by Topuria against
Justin
Gaethje for the unified lightweight throne.
This specific documentary, titled “Topuria Matador,” will cover two
major fights of Topuria. The spotlight will first shine on his
match with Josh Emmett,
which marked only the second time he had gone the distance as a
pro. After beating Emmett, “The Matador” claimed a featherweight
title shot and cashed it by knocking out Alexander
Volkanovski—this is what the documentary will lead to as it
progresses.A man of many upbringings
In addition to his July 2023 bout with Emmett and his championship
tilt on February 2024 against Volkanovski, the documentary will
delve into the fighter’s early life. Born in Germany to Georgian
parents, his family including brother Aleksandre
Topuria relocated to Georgia for some time before moving on to
Spain, where they live and train now.
The documentary will show some of the grizzly details of the
fighting process, including his hard training sessions, his brutal
weight cut and plenty of other detail from his coaches. It will
also bring in some of Topuria’s opponents to discuss what he
brought to the table when facing them.
Still undefeated as a professional, Topuria serves as one of a
small handful of two-division champs in UFC history. He won the
145-pound strap against the aforementioned Volkanovski and defended
it once by shellacking the seemingly unflappable Max
Holloway. Moving up to lightweight, Topuria laid waste to
Charles
Oliveira to pick up the vacant crown. His match against Gaethje
on June 14 will unify his belt with his opponent’s interim
strap.