Ilia Topuria cemented his crown at 145 pounds on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, where he headlined UFC 308 against fan-favorite legend Max Holloway eight months after his knockout of Alexander Volkanovski. Despite facing a hitherto indestructible chin, “The Matador” vowed to knock out Holloway for the first time. And, contrary to the predictions of many, the 27-year-old fighter delivered on his promise after landing a cruel left hook in the third round.

With this result, Ilia Topuria has added a successful defense to his reign, remains undefeated in MMA, and is a strong candidate for the Best Fighter of the Year 2024 accolade. Among those who have run out of superlatives for the Spaniard is UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan. In fact, he was so impressed by Topuria that he put the UFC featherweight champion in the same category as Jon Jones and Islam Makhachev.

During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the UFC commentator shared his belief that Ilia Topuria has set a new benchmark in the UFC. According to Joe Rogan, Topuria is a man with ultimate speed and no disadvantages. As a result, he is “the new high-water mark” and potentially the best P4P fighter alive in the Dana White-led promotion at the moment.

Joe Rogan further emphasized his major claim by saying that it is a really close call with other names such as Jon Jones and Islam Makhachev also being in top-notch form. However, the UFC commentator still believes Ilia Topuria is slightly ahead but everything is still very open for debate. He said on the podcast, “There’s a lot of discussion about that online. It’s a little premature, especially with Jon Jones still out there, and there are other elite fighters too—Islam Makhachev is another one. There’s a real argument that he’s the best pound-for-pound guy alive, but it’s f—–g close. Ilia, he might be the best.” 

Well, it surely looks like Ilia Topuria has earned himself a fan in Joe Rogan. The Spanish-Georgian fighter has been on a roll, truly earning the respect of any fighter he faces. Because of his flamboyant performances, he is also being compared to one of the greatest fighters in the UFC, Conor McGregor. Another legend of the sport also fueled the comparisons by comparing the Spaniard with ‘The Notorious.’

Daniel Cormier compares Ilia Topuria to Conor McGregor

Many comparisons have been made between Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor in recent times. The Irishman has even dismissed the current titleholder’s talent compared to his featherweight iteration. “DC,” however, sees parts of ‘The Matador’ gameplay that go beyond McGregor’s. He made the point in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.

DC claimed, “I don’t know if we have ever seen a guy at 145 that punches like this dude. He hits like no one I’ve ever seen before. Conor McGregor had great power at 145, but Conor McGregor, I don’t think, had the skills that Ilia Topuria has in terms of his pure boxing without going and fighting a pure boxing match.” He further emphasized that the Spanish-Georgian has the power to knock his opponents out and do it in devastating fashion. This point was proven after he managed to pull the impossible by knocking out Max Holloway.

While getting McGregor back in the cage to fight Michael Chandler proved to be too much of a challenge in recent years, the talks of him fighting Ilia Topuria has suddenly picked up steam after UFC 308. What do you think? Will we get to see the two clash anytime soon? Let us know in the comments.