‘It is nuts, it’s like nothing I’ve seen before’: Jon Anik reacts to Ilia Topuria’s 2nd title win at UFC 317

While Ilia Topuria’s performances inside the octagon are impressive enough, the MMA community, including lead UFC commentator Jon Anik, is blown away by the confidence and demeanor of the new lightweight champ.

Topuria captured his second divisional title with a sensational knockout of former champ Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 this past Saturday. Anik called the action alongside Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier in Las Vegas.

Throughout the build to the fight, Topuria acted like he had already won the belt, even celebrating the title win the night before the event. Anik has been floored by what Topuria has brought to the table across the board.

“It is nuts, it’s like nothing I’ve seen before,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “I know sometimes I’m criticized for sounding extra hyperbolic, but calm, cool, collected doesn’t even begin to describe it. He is so matter of fact, as if the outcome is an eventuality against Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer, and now after third Hall of Famer that I don’t really know that there’s a comp.

“I mean, yes, there’s a lot of Conor McGregor parallels to be drawn, but even the way after he wins, he’s just like he doesn’t even have the desire to jump on the cage. It’s just crazy and the celebration the night before, when an athlete says things like, ‘I’m just going to collect the belt and I won it in camp,’ it’s like, yeah, but you still got to go perform on fight night. You can’t be flat on fight night.

“We used to say about Floyd Mayweather, 50-0 is 50-0, he was never flat on fight night. You still got to go out and do it. But with this guy, it is almost as if he bends time.”

Topuria’s current three-fight run is one of the best in UFC history. In February 2024, Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to win the featherweight championship. Eight months later, “El Matador” became the first fighter ever to stop Max Holloway with strikes at UFC 308. Then he stopped Oliveira this past weekend.

The vibe in the arena was unmatched following the knockout. Current LFA flyweight Phumi Nkuta—who attended the event with Aljamain Sterling—told MMA Fighting that while the fan section of the arena went bananas, the fighter section was more stoic. Stunned, even.

Anik isn’t surprised that was the reaction from Topuria’s fellow fighters.

“Just imagine if you are Islam Makhachev, Justin Gaethje, or Dustin Poirier, and you’re watching that play out,” Anik said. “Any fighter with recent history with Charles Oliveira from, say 2019 on, and then you see that, right? And don’t tell me this isn’t a prime Charles Oliveira. I mean, if this is The Hunger Games, he still leads the league.

“He’s still as hungry as ever to fight. So imagine what it’s like for some of Ilia Topuria’s contemporaries to be watching that, and I think that speaks to why that section was stunned. And thankfully as commentators, we were anything but silent because we have a job to do, but I think for a lot of fans, you and me, it’s like, dude, I’m not going to put anything past this guy. I wasn’t liking his chances at welterweight before this result, and then I’m thinking, my goodness, man, far be it for me to put anything past the guy. … This Ilia Topuria, man, he’s one of one, and his peers are certainly taking notice.”

Of course, the big debate coming out of UFC 317 is whether or not Topuria is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world over Islam Makhachev, the previous lightweight champion who vacated the belt for a move to welterweight.

Anik understands the topic is completely objective, but while many believe the pound-for-pound struggle is between two fighters, Anik says there’s a third.

“So it’s hard to lose your number one slot if you’re Islam Makhachev if you haven’t lost a fight, but is it not crazy that we live in a world right now in which if you go to UFC.com and Islam Makhachev is not a champion anymore?,” Anik explained. “What did that guy do to not be a UFC undisputed champion right now? It’s impossible to argue against what Ilia Topuria has done. It’s very hard to argue against what Merab Dvalishvili has done, and certainly Islam just hasn’t been the frequent competitor that Merab has been or maybe Ilia, I guess, has been over the last however many months.

“But, I mean, my goodness, man. It’s splitting hairs. It’s a three-headed monster as far as I’m concerned, but if you just take Ilia and Merab and table Makhachev, who has been my No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world for what feels like half a decade, they’ve maximized their situation. Both of those two guys, maximize their utility and I don’t know, if you like knockouts, then Topuria is your guy over Merab. But in terms of like historical dominance, Merab is right there.”