"Let's see if Dana White is a man of his word" - Ilia Topuria holds the UFC president accountable for huge promise made a year ago

Ilia Topuria hasn't forgotten the promise UFC president Dana White made to him a year ago and recently reminded the promotion's frontman of the same.

Ever since Ilia Topuria joined the UFC in 2020, he has been determined to bring the promotion to Spain, as his native land has never hosted a UFC event. A day before his fight against Josh Emmett at UFC on ABC 5, Topuria recalled Dana White promising him an event in Spain if he managed to break into the top-five ranks of the featherweight division.

In a recent interview with Mirror Fighting, Ilia Topuria spoke about his dream of featuring in a future UFC Spain card and revealed the promise White made to him a year ago. He said:

"Exactly one year ago I had a meeting in Las Vegas with Dana White and Hunter [Campbell]. Dana told me that once I put myself into the top five, I am going to take the UFC into Spain. So now I am going to do my work and put myself into the top five and let's see if Dana is a man of his word."

The top-ranked UFC featherweight recently defeated Josh Emmett via unanimous decision. The Georgian-Spanish fighter put on a dominant performance in a one-sided contest to beat the former title challenger.

While he is most likely set to enter the featherweight division's top five rankings, it remains to be seen if Dana White keeps his word.

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Ilia Topuria next fight: 'El Matador' on fighting Max Holloway in Spain

Ilia Topuria is currently one of the most exciting featherweights out there, and the mercurial Georgian-Spanish fighter almost always puts on a show for the fans. He recently dominated Josh Emmett at UFC on ABC 5 to secure a unanimous decision win to extend his unbeaten streak to 14 fights.

While 'El Matador' made it clear he has featherweight gold in his sights next, he recently claimed he is open to fighting Max Holloway in Spain in case featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski beats Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 and then opts to rematch Islam Makhachev.

At the post-fight presser, Ilia Topuria spoke about his future plans, saying:

"Busy, not busy, I don’t know if [Volkanovski is] busy. I’m the next guy in the line, I can wait. One of the best skills I have is patience. If they offer me to fight with Max Holloway in Spain, let’s do it. If not, I’m going to wait for my title shot."