Ilia Topuria recently added another significant achievement to his career list at UFC 317, but one of his major remaining objectives appears challenging to attain in the immediate future.
Topuria continued his impressive rise in the mixed martial arts world this past Saturday, securing his second championship title. After a brief but dominant period as the featherweight champion, Topuria defeated Charles Oliveira via knockout at UFC 317 to claim the lightweight title, which had been vacated by Islam Makhachev.
Delivering powerful knockout victories, `El Matador` is achieving his ambitious goals within the UFC with apparent ease. However, one particular aspiration is proving more difficult to realize.
Dana White States Ilia Topuria`s UFC Spain Ambition `Not an Option Currently`
Since establishing himself as a prominent figure in the UFC, Topuria has frequently expressed his strong desire to bring a UFC event to Spain. He specifically envisions competing at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. The venue`s retractable roof makes it a potential candidate for the UFC`s first stadium show since UFC 243 in Australia six years prior.
However, the newly crowned lightweight champion`s hope of defending a title on home soil received a setback during Dana White`s post-UFC 317 press conference.
White commented, “Spain isn`t even an option right now.”
While this news tempers Topuria`s immediate expectations for competing in Spain, the UFC CEO did suggest it remains a future possibility, stating that a debut event in the European nation is inevitable.
“It is the goal,” White affirmed. “We`ve been trying to get into Spain for a while now. Hopefully, that`s what I want to do, and we`ll see if we can make it happen… we`ll assess what`s available and figure things out. We`re definitely going to Spain; it`s just a matter of timing.”
Obstacles Hindering UFC`s Spain Debut
Earlier this year, Topuria mentioned a challenge, indicating that hosting a pay-per-view event in Spain during US primetime might not be feasible. More recently, journalist Rodrigo Del Campo González explained the obstacle preventing the Bernabeu from hosting non-football events.
The journalist posted on X, stating, “Bernabeu can`t host anything but football at the time; they`re having really bad permit issues with the city and the neighborhood.”
He added, “They partially renovated to host concerts and did manage some, but incurred over 2.5 million Euros in fines for noise violations.”
In a subsequent post, he reiterated Topuria`s earlier comments, noting that the NFL hosting an afternoon game there later this year presents no such issue, suggesting the timing or nature of the event might be the key factor.
Rupert Hartwell 
Benedict Kingsley