"Never seen a more cringe fighter in the ufc" - Fans weigh in after Ilia Topuria rebrands himself as ‘El Matador’ again

It seems former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria couldn't make up his mind when it comes to his own nickname. First, he was 'El Matador,' perfectly capturing his Spanish allegiance. After some time, he changed his nickname to 'La Leyenda,' which translates to 'The Legend.'

About a month later, we're back to 'El Matador.' To MMA fans, Ilia Topuria's indecisiveness has become a laughing matter.

Championship rounds reported on the change in nickname on X:

"Ilia Topuria has changed his name on Instagram from 'The Legend' and has added 'El Matador' to his bio 👀"

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@47nabulsi on X replied:

"Never seen a more cringe fighter in the ufc"

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Meanwhile, @mahommadkashif8 replied to the tweet with:

"Dude is behaving like a girl with all the time in the world changing his bio back and forth. He might be waiting for a rude awakening."

Here are more comments:

More comments on the tweet. [Image credit: @ChampsRDS on X]

Ilia Topuria reportedly set to challenge for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 317 in June

Earlier this year, Topuria made an unprecedented move by vacating the UFC featherweight belt to move up to 155 pounds and challenge for the lightweight throne. In a time when champions hold on to their belts while moving to another weight class to become a double-champ, 'El Matador' chose not to hold his division hostage.

According to a report by MMA journalist Alvaro Colmenero of Eurosport, Topuria will be fighting for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 317 International Fight Week in June. The only question was whether he'll face the division's current champion Islam Makhachev or former title holder Charles Oliveira:

"🚨| Ilia Topuria WILL fight for the UFC lightweight title at #UFC317 on June 28th, per @KOlmeneroMMA. If Islam Makhachev stays at LW, he will defend against Ilia Topuria. If Makhachev goes up to WW, Topuria will fight Charles Oliveira for the VACANT lightweight title"

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After the events of UFC 315 last weekend, Makhachev may indeed move to 170 pounds and vacate the lightweight throne. As it happens, the Dagestani champion's friend, Belal Muhammad, dropped the welterweight strap to Jack Della Maddalena. Now that his friendhip with Muhammad is no longer a hindrance to his double-champ aspirations, Makhachev may very well move up to welterweight to face Della Maddalena.

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

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Edited by Krishna Venki