February 17th birthed a superstar in the UFC, the crowning of a new king in the featherweight division and he wants MMA in the Bernabeu.
Ilia Topuria oozed confidence and bravado in all the build-up and proved to the world just how special he is with a stunning knockout of long-standing champion Alexander Volkanovski. He is the first Spanish and Georgian champion in the organisation and has trailblazed a pathway and become an icon for young Spaniards. In the immediate aftermath of his victory at UFC 298 he had his homecoming in mind calling for his first defence to be in Spain.
UFC President Dana White was asked about it and seemed keen. When looking at other locations in Europe it has always been a key point to have a roof on the arena particularly here in the UK. The Bernabeu in Madrid has a roof and a potential crowd of 80,000. The current record attendance for a UFC event was back in 2019 at UFC 243 at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. A crowd of just over 57,000 watched Israel Adesanya become middleweight champion for the first time. The new featherweight king will be at the stadium presenting his belt before Real Madrid vs Sevilla to ignite the dream of an MMA event in the illustrious stadium.
Below we have attempted to create a European super card that could potentially sell out the Bernabeu of course topped by Topuria in his first featherweight defence.
Ilia Topuria vs Yair Rodriguez
Many believe Volkanovski deserves a rematch after his long reign as champion. However, an immediate rematch after another tough knockout loss does not seem an intelligent choice and many would like to see the Australian take some time off until the end of the year. Therefore Topuria needs a contender for his first defence, up steps Yair Rodriguez. This weekend in Mexico City the dynamic striker rematches Brian Ortega in a five-round co-main event and if he is successful he will definitely call for the new champion as the bad blood has already been brewing between them.
Movsar Evloev is an undefeated contender coming off a contentious win over Arnold Allen but even with an 18-0 record his last finish in a fight was in 2018 outside of the UFC. Undefeated vs undefeated sells but we think a fiery contest between two finishers is far more appealing. However, a Max Holloway-shaped shadow looms over the division, if he is successful and unscathed at UFC 300 he will call for an attempt to reclaim his old belt.
Cyril Gane vs Sergei Pavlovich
Two of the very best Heavyweights in the sport colliding in a huge co-main event. The division is currently in an odd place with two champions and two belts. Jon Jones who will be fighting Stipe Miocic at some point this year and Tom Aspinall the interim champion who is looking for activity. Aspinall only has one defeat on his record and that is to Curtis Blaydes and he is aiming to get that one back if Blaydes is victorious when he fights at UFC 299. This leaves top contenders Gane and Pavlovich without opponents so putting them together makes sense for the division. Given they are both elite European fighters a co-main slot in the Bernabeu would be spectacular viewing.
Marvin Vettori vs Khamzat Chimaev
One of the biggest stars in Europe is undoubtedly Khamzat Chimaev. However, the UFC career of the Chechen has been tumultuous so far plagued with illness, weight struggles and a severe covid case nearly causing an early retirement. A fight with Marvin Vettori is the chance to push on towards one of the many belts he has targeted. His last performance against Usman was phenomenal for the first five minutes but faded as the fight progressed. Vettori is a tough consistent contender at middleweight and a dominant win over him would be the best win to date. Vettori has called for this fight before and if he beats Brendan Allen in April the Chimaev fight will grow even bigger.
Manel Kape vs Muhammed Mokaev
Manel Kape has been entertaining whenever he has stepped into the octagon which has unfortunately not been as often as fans and himself would have liked since debuting against the current champion Alexandre Pantoja in 2021. The ferocious flyweight is Portugal’s highest-ranked fighter in the UFC and currently their best chance at getting a UFC champion. It seems almost inevitable that Muhammed Mokaev will become a UFC champion one day. The 10-0 British Dagestani has immense grappling and a wicked submission game which he has displayed with four submission wins in five UFC bouts. What separates him from other flyweight prospects is the salvation of victory from bad situations. His last three performances were all imperfect yet they all finished with astounding third round submissions. He faces Alex Perez next weekend. This fight includes the new blood of the division and would produce the next contender for the belt.
Rafael Fiziev vs Joel Alvarez
Given the wealth of sporting excellence produced by Spain over the years it is surprising that there are very few Spanish UFC fighters. Born in Gijon Joel Alvarez has steadily rose through the UFC towards the lightweight rankings and aims to get a big win to break the rankings. Alvarez kicking off the main card would be perfect in front of his home nation. His opponent could be Muay Thai maestro Rafael Fiziev. His last fight was a disappointing injury loss to Matuesz Gamrot in what promised to be an incredible match up. Given the severity of the injury a currently unranked opponent like Alvarez is not out of the picture. His style is fan friendly and would easily boost the attendance in Madrid especially against a hometown fighter.
What matchups would you add to fill the stadium?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
