Watch: UFC Champ Ilia Topuria Meets Football Legend Lionel Messi in Miami
Two sporting legends come face to face.
UFC featherweight king Ilia Topuria recently got to spend some time with arguably the most iconic player in soccer history.
“El Matador” claimed the UFC featherweight title when he knocked out long-time-champion Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 298, and just a few weeks after that win the 27-year-old appeared with his new belt at a soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla in his home country of Spain.
The sensational ovation from the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid was a massive moment for Topuria, and last weekend the UFC champion also got to meet soccer legend Lionel Messi during a trip to Miami.
Considered by some to be the greatest soccer player of all time, Messi carved out an incredible legacy during his lengthy career with Barcelona and spent two seasons playing with Paris-Saint Germain in France before he joined Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami to massive fanfare last year.
Messi is currently in the twilight of his legendary career, but Topuria is just starting to establish himself as one of the UFC’s biggest stars and has already made a significant impact outside of fighting based on an Instagram comment from Chelsea midfielder and Messi’s Argentina teammate Enzo Fernández.
Fans are still eagerly waiting for news of when Topuria will return to the cage for his first title defense, and the list of potential opponents for “El Matador” includes some of the UFC’s top featherweights as well as bantamweight champion and fellow UFC star Sean O’Malley.
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