UFC sensation Ilia Topuria has received big praise from fellow UFC champion Tom Aspinall following another strong year.<\/p>\n
While he may have only fought once this year, it\u2019s safe to say that Ilia Topuria has established himself as one of the biggest stars in all of mixed martial arts. After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back to back fights, some wondered whether or not Ilia would be able to take things any further than that. The short answer is that he was able to, and he did so emphatically.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Ilia Topuria to Cristiano Ronaldo after latter became shareholder in MMA company: \u201cWelcome to the family\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier this year, Topuria faced Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight championship \u2013 and once again, he won via knockout. He became a two-weight world champion in the process, and \u2018El Matador\u2019 reached a whole new level of superstardom. While he is currently on hiatus<\/a> while dealing with some personal issues, there\u2019s a great deal of excitement in the air for when he does decide to return.<\/p>\n Tom Aspinall, who is also currently on the shelf due to injury, recently made a case for Topuria being his fighter of the year in the wake of UFC 323.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Aspinall praises Topuria<\/p>\n \u201cThe fighter that stands out for me is Ilia Topuria,\u201d the Englishman said when asked to name the best fighter of 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think he\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n He added about KO of the Year: \u201cThe ones that stand out for me are the events I was at.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I\u2019m a little bit biased, but Topuria vs Charles Oliveira.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best knockouts I\u2019ve ever seen live. The atmosphere that night was f\u2014ing incredible. So, I\u2019m going to go for that this year.\u201d<\/p>\n