Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz congratulate Ilia Topuria on clinching UFC title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski
Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal recently congratulated Ilia Topuria after he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the UFC featherweight title.
Topuria, a Georgian-Spanish mixed martial artist, started making waves in Spain's local competitions since his debut in 2015. In 2019, Topuria signed with Bahrain-based promotion Brave Combat Federation. The following year, he became a part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
The 27-year-old's first significant UFC milestone came in March 2022, when he won his fight against Jai Herbert after recovering from a knockdown. The win yielded his first Performance of the Night award. He won another Performance of the Night award in December 2022 after defeating Bryce Mitchell. Topuria also claimed the Fight of the Night award after winning against Josh Emmett in June 2023.
Topuria's fight against Volkanovski was originally scheduled for January this year. However, it was postponed due to Volkanovski's fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 for the UFC Lightweight Championship. By knocking out Volkanovski and becoming the new UFC featherweight champion, Topuria ended the former's four-year dominance of the title.
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz congratulated Topuria after his achievement via separate social media posts.
"Congratulations champ!!," Nadal wrote in an Instagram Story, where he also tagged the new UFC featherweight champion.
Carlos Alcaraz also chimed in with a message of his own.
"Brutal @iliatopuria! Congratulations!!!," the ATP World No. 2 wrote in an Instagram Story.
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz set to lock horns at Netflix Slam
Nadal has been sidelined since his third-round exit from the Brisbane International, where he lost to Jordan Thompson, due to an injury sustained during the match, which also led to withdrawals from the Australian Open and Qatar Open.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, has been playing a regular season minus injuries. However, his results have been underwhelming. At the Australian Open, the World No. 2 lost in the quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev. He also crashed out of the semifinals of the Argentina Open after a surprising straight-sets defeat at the hands of Nicolas Jarry.
Nadal and Alcaraz are slated to go head-to-head at the Netflix Slam in Las Vegas on March 3. The exhibition, which will be hosted by MGM Resorts International, is set to strengthen Netflix's inroads into the tennis world, which started with its Break Point docuseries.