UFC featherweight Ilia Topuria has no shortage of fans in the MMA community, but he had another famous face ringside in his latest Octagon appearance. Sergio Ramos, a legend of Spanish soccer who played for Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Paris St-Germain, was in prime position to see Topuria destroy Josh Emmett at UFC Jacksonville.
Ramos also made sure to hang out with his fellow Spaniard before and after the show, and Topuria opened up about their burgeoning friendship on The MMA Hour.
Ilia Topuria Wants To Bring The UFC To Real Madrid Stadium
“One year ago or something like that, he texted me after one of my fights. He started to follow me [on social media], text me, and for this fight he told me I’m going to watch you, to support you.
I was like, ‘Really? You will come?’ He told me, ‘Yes, I’m on vacation. I didn’t have any football match, soccer match, so I’m going to go to watch you fight.’”
Ramos, as a major star in one of the biggest sporting leagues on the planet, has plenty of social media support. It won’t hurt Topuria’s rise to stardom to get the rub from a Spanish superstar, but Topuria is refusing to get ahead of himself. His fame will grow, he says, slowly but surely.
“It starts growing little by little. Slow is the fastest way to get where you want to be, I always used to say this. I always saw all this movement in my mind, it was just a question of time to bring all this into reality. That’s it. I just enjoy the process.”
Topuria also wants to bring his sport into the mainstream in Spain. Although soccer still reigns supreme in Spain as in most European countries, Topuria’s rise through the UFC rankings has brought MMA into mainstream attention at home.
Accordingly, he believes the UFC could headline a show in some of the country’s biggest venues. Top of the list is Real Madrid’s legendary home ground, Santiago Bernabeu, in the heart of the country’s capitol.
“Seeing how MMA is growing in Spain, it’s crazy, because I remember when I started, no one knew anything about MMA.
They were like, ‘Which sport is that?’ ‘What are you doing?’ ‘They punch each other?’ Crazy questions.
Right now, everyone knows everything about MMA. Everyone follows the UFC. I’m pretty sure that if the UFC brings an event to Spain, they’re going to sell out the whole arena in one day.
Madrid, Santiago Bernabéu, in that stadium. Yeah. They’re going to sell out. I don’t have any doubt about that.”
