Early career Topuria started his career with four straight submission wins on the Spanish regional scene and won a belt in Mix Fight Events promotion. In 2018, he competed in his first international fight at Cage MMA Finland. In May 2018, he became the first Georgian black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu alongside his brother, Alex Topuria. Months later he received the opportunity to fight for the
Cage Warriors Bantamweight Championship at the Lotto Arena in
Antwerp, Belgium. Ilia failed to make the agreed weight so despite winning the fight quickly, he did not get the belt. In 2019, he signed with
Brave Combat Federation. Ilia made his promotional debut in
Bogotá, Colombia, defeating Luis Gomez in the first round by submission; which earned him the award for best performance of the night. On November 15, 2019, in Bahrain, he won his second fight in BRAVE by defeating Steven Goncalves by KO in the first round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship Topuria, as a replacement for
Seung Woo Choi, took a bout on short notice against
Youssef Zalal on October 11, 2020 at
UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen. Topuria won the fight via unanimous decision. Topuria faced
Damon Jackson on December 5, 2020, at
UFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori. He won the fight via knockout in round one. Topuria faced
Ryan Hall on July 10, 2021, at
UFC 264. He won the fight via knockout in round one. Topuria was scheduled to face
Movsar Evloev on January 22, 2022, at
UFC 270. However, Evloev withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by
Charles Jourdain. However, Topuria was pulled from the card due to a medical issue related to cutting weight and the bout was cancelled. Topuria faced
Jai Herbert, replacing
Mike Davis, on March 19, 2022, at
UFC Fight Night 204. Topuria suffered a knockdown from a head kick in round one, but recovered and won the fight via knockout in round two. With this win, he received the
Performance of the Night award. Topuria was scheduled to face
Edson Barboza on October 29, 2022, at
UFC Fight Night 213. However, Barboza withdrew in late September due to a knee injury. Topuria faced
Bryce Mitchell on December 10, 2022, at
UFC 282. He won the fight via submission in round two. This win earned him the
Performance of the Night award. Topuria was initially scheduled to face
Josh Emmett on June 17, 2023, at
UFC on ESPN 47. However, the bout was shifted to headline
UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria on June 24, 2023. He won the fight via unanimous decision. The bout earned him the
Fight of the Night award. However, on 10 days' notice replacing an injured
Charles Oliveira, Volkanovski faced
Islam Makhachev for the
UFC Lightweight Championship at
UFC 294 on October 21, 2023, and was knocked out in the first round. As a result, Topuria vs. Volkanovski was pushed back one month to headline
UFC 298 on February 17, 2024. Topuria won the featherweight championship via knockout in the second round, ending Volkanovski's four-year reign. This fight earned him the
Performance of the Night award. Topuria defended his
UFC Featherweight Championship against former champion
Max Holloway on October 26, 2024, at
UFC 308. He won by knockout in the third round, the first knockout loss of Holloway's career. This fight earned him another
Performance of the Night award.
Vacating title Despite rumors of a rematch between Topuria and Volkanovski, on February 19, 2025, it was announced Topuria would vacate his title as soon as the featherweight championship main event at
UFC 314 started. UFC president
Dana White explained Topuria's unexpected move, citing difficulties
cutting weight, a lack of interest in the division's competition, and a desire to move up to lightweight permanently.
UFC Lightweight Champion Topuria faced former
UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant
UFC Lightweight Championship on June 28, 2025, at
UFC 317. He defeated Oliveira by knockout at 2:27 of the first round, becoming the 10th multi-division champion in UFC history. He became the first UFC two-division champion while maintaining an undefeated record. Following the bout, Topuria was promoted to #1 in the
UFC pound-for-pound rankings. However, the #1 ranking was given back to
Islam Makhachev on November 19, 2025, after he claimed the welterweight championship. In November 2025, Topuria announced that he would not compete in the first quarter of 2026 due to personal reasons. Topuria is scheduled to make his first title defense against interim champion
Justin Gaethje in the main event on June 14, 2026 at
UFC Freedom 250. == Fighting style and training ==