There is no doubt that Ilia Topuria has become one of the fashionable characters in 2024. His victory on February 17, in Los Angeles, earned him the UFC featherweight world championshipthe highest division of mixed martial arts. His rise to the topHowever, it has not been easy. The great victories have in common having started from a failure that forged a paved path that ended at the highest peak. And this, the natural law of triumph, has also been known first-hand by the fashionable superstar, who has gone from being a complete unknown to the majority to being one of the most admired athletes within our borders in just two years. It is a value that is constantly rising. A businessman focused on sports and an athlete with a business vision.
© GETTY IMAGES“If I have to make an investment, all the money I earn I invest in myself. “I do not invest in anything that I do not know and where I have no control.”
Although it is not possible to know exactly how much money he has earned so far throughout his career, the Spanish-Georgian fighter has spoken about it publicly on more than one occasion. On the podcast Webpositer Agency, acknowledged having won “between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 euros” since he joined the UFC in October 2020. In a more casual tone, during an interview in The Resistancerevealed that he earns “between 60,000 and 100,000 euros per month.” The truth is that, in his still sporting career, he has already amassed a significant fortune. Just for winning the title of UFC world champion, he pocketed nearly 500,000 euros, accumulating about 2 million. “If I have to make an investment, all the money I earn I invest in myself. I do not invest in anything that I do not know and where I have no control. I like it invest in my brand”, he explained recently. And about his role as an entrepreneur and investor, he said: “Obviously money is super important, it is what motivates us towards everything, because I have to bring food to my son. “My son is not going to eat my legacy, my fame or my medals.”
© GETTY IMAGESHis business best known is the clothing brand who bears his nickname, ‘The Matador. At the moment, there are t-shirts and caps starting at 30 euros. He has also become a shareholder in the company Oblak Caps, led by the entrepreneur José Luis Sena, for which he was first an ambassador. However, Topuria’s big project premiered a few months ago. It is a telecommunications company linked to health and sports, KEIO Mobilewith which, in addition to providing mobile and fiber service, it offers a fitness application with a personal trainer included, VIP access to gyms and a sports channel with exclusive content. Topuria has thought of this innovative proposal so that “instead of offering people entertainment so that they stay at home and have platforms for well-being and personal development.”
He is also working to represent fighters, in a high performance center for contact sports and in a foundation.
© GETTY IMAGESHe has more ideas in mind. It is known that he is working on a fighter representation agency and in a high performance center for contact sports. In addition, a children’s Foundation will soon see the light of day through which it will help disadvantaged children and young people through training and, for a few months, it has been in talks. with Gerard Piqué to create a promoter that is in charge of organizing the fights in national territory. Behind all this would be Kosmos, the company with which the former soccer player manages his businesses.
Topuria is studying Finance remotely at the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM)
He has also been actively participating in conversations to bring a UFC event for some time. Both Topuria and the company’s CEO, Dana White, are already talking openly about the possibility of holding a historical combat at the Santiago Bernabéu at the end of 2024. The fighter challenged McGregor, although he will finally fight Max Holloway on October 26: “The goal is to fill a stadium of 80,000 people.”
© GettyimagesHe last great achievement of Topuria outside the octagon has, however, been on the big screen. As Filmax explains through a study by ComscoreMoviesSpain, his first documentary film, Topuria: Slayer (he is already preparing the second, as he confessed to MARCA) managed to be the most viewed Spanish film at the box office when it premiered in more than 180 cinemas in Spain, placing it in the top-3 overall… only behind Bitelchus Bitelchus and Don’t talk to strangers. Some fantastic results that demonstrate the growing interest that mixed martial arts have awakened in our country, coinciding with the boom that has caused his world title. Embarked on an irrepressible and promising professional adventure, Topuria does not lose sight of his training. In fact, he says that he is studying Finance remotely at the Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM).
