Ilia's Big Brother Booked For UFC Debut Down Under

Yesterday at 08:21 AM

The older Topuria brother will fight for the first time in two years, putting his 5-1 record to the test against a homegrown Australian opponent.

Ilia Topuria's older brother Aleksandre has his debut fight for the UFC booked.

Aleksandre Topuria is 28 years old, just one year and one week older than his little brother and UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. He's spent the last several years on Ilia's coaching team pushing his sibling towards stardom. Now he'll get his chance in the spotlight on February 8th in Sydney, Australia.

As reported by Alvaro Colmenero and confirmed by Big Marcel Dorff, Aleksandre Topuria will fight Contender Series veteran Cody Haddon at UFC 312. Haddon is 8-1 in MMA and 1-0 in the UFC, not counting the first round RNC win from Dana White's Contender Series that earned him a contract. Haddon fights out of Perth, making Sydney home turf for him.

Aleksandre Topuria arrives in the UFC with a 5-1 record. His last three fights (one a year from 2021 to 2023) were first round finishes, and he reportedly struggled to secure fights following those due to his fearsome reputation. While seemingly untested at a high level, Team Topuria claims "El Cazador" (which means 'the hunter') is just as good as his champion brother, and a big part of why Ilia's striking is so good.

There's certainly no shortage of fighting brothers whose iron has sharpened iron to elite levels. Nick and Nate Diaz, Ken and Frank Shamrock, Fedor and Aleksander Emelianenko, Anthony and Sergio Pettis, Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and on and on. Will Ilia and Aleksandre Topuria be the latest siblings to accomplish great things together, apart?

Aleksandre Topuria will get his chance to prove he belongs in the UFC on February 8th. Also fighting at UFC 312: Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Stricland for the middleweight title, and Weili Zhang vs. Tatiana Suarez for the women's strawweight title.