Athletes
Aleksandre Topuria | Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good
Bantamweight Discusses Family Style, Competing In The UFC, 2026 Goals
Back in his days as a two-sport athlete, Deion Sanders — or “Coach Prime” as he’s known now — was famous for saying, “If you look good, you feel good, (and) if you feel good, you play good.”
“100 percent I agree with that,” said Alexsandre Topuria, decked out in designer shades and a crisp, stylish shirt as we spoke on Wednesday morning, a few days in advance of his return to action against Bekzat Almakhan this weekend in Doha, Qatar. “I like that quote.”
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The mention of Sanders came up because Topuria and his younger brother, UFC lightweight ruler Ilia, and their entire team are constantly raising the style bar during Fight Week. Every time they step out, they look as they were just pulled from a photo shoot or on their way to one, and during the younger Topuria’s triumphant week in Las Vegas this summer when he became a two-division champion, seeing how the team and entourage were dressed was a daily moment of appreciation for clean lines, fine tailored items, and exquisite fits.
So, who or what inspired the Brothers Topuria to be such fashion icons in the world of fighting?
“I think all my family,” offered the 29-year-old bantamweight. “We love to look good.”
As outstanding as their sartorial selections are, fighting is still what the Topurias are best at.
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Ilia rose through the ranks with his older brother as one of his chief corners, with Aleksandre simultaneously dabbling inside the cage as well, amassing a 5-1 record before getting the call to compete alongside his sibling on the biggest stage in the sport. In February, Topuria made his first foray into the Octagon, earning a unanimous decision win over Colby Thicknesse at UFC 312 in Sydney.
“It means everything,” Topuria said about joining his brother on the UFC stage. “I’m very happy to share this path with my brother, before as a coach, and now, he’s doing my role. I love it. I truly enjoy this path.
“I cannot compare my victory with when he won the belt,” he said upon being asked which brings him more joy: his own victories or those of his brother. “When he won the belt, that emotion was a little bit different. I can say that his victories — I get nervous before he fights, and I don’t feel that myself, not even close, when I fight. When he wins, it’s like something explodes inside. I put a lot of work physically when I fight, so it’s a little bit different, but it feels like the sensation when he wins, it’s like I start to scream.
“When I won last time, I didn’t say (anything),” he added with a smirk. “I was just grateful, thanked God, thanked my team. But when he wins, I get emotional, crazy.”
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The idea that competing is less nerve-racking than watching your sibling step into the fray is a common refrain amongst family members that compete alongside one another, and one usually tethered to the amount of control, or lack thereof, that comes with each scenario. It’s not the only familiar feeling that Topuria has experienced since he joined the UFC roster and found himself as the athlete navigating fight week.
Though he’d accompanied Ilia to various destinations and helped him navigate myriad weeks leading up to his fights, February was the first time that Aleksandre was the one that was going through all the steps — checking in, signing posters, making the media rounds — and though the main character experience wasn’t as different as he anticipated, it did leave him with one key takeaway.
“Before I travelled to Australia, before I went into fight week and lived the situation that I lived so many times with my brother, but from the outside, I was thinking, ‘It will be a little but different,’” began Topuria, who carries a four-fight winning streak into his clash with Almakhan on Saturday. “But when I was there, it was like, ‘I was here so many times.’
“I enjoyed it more than when Ilia fights, because like I said, there is a little more attention; I must be concentrating with my brother, so when I’m in my fight week, I enjoy it more,” he added with a smile. “The only bad thing is the weight cut. If there is no weight cut, it’s just a usual week: you train, you eat, you rest, and repeat, and then Saturday evening, you have a fight. It’s nice. It’s good.
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“I learned that I must enjoy it more,” he said when asked about the lessons drawn from his first experience as a UFC fighter. “I enjoyed it, but I must enjoy more. Before, there was a little more — not pressure, but questions. I know there is still a lot to do, still a lot of questions, but right now, I feel a little more comfortable, more free; I’m enjoying it more than last time, so I learned you have to enjoy anything you do.
“There is always pressure, there are always questions, there is always doubt, but you must enjoy; truly, you must enjoy.”
Some of those questions were answered in his win over Thicknesse, but many persist as he heads into this weekend’s meeting with Almakhan, who debuted on short notice against Umar Nurmagomedov and gave the top contender a scare early before getting out-grappled. In May, the prospect from Kazakhstan made his own sophomore appearance, opening the UFC 315 fight card at Bell Centre in Montreal with a bang as he knocked out two-time TUF winner Brad Katona in 64 seconds.
Brandishing a 12-2 record and a solid amount of buzz, “The Turan Warrior” is someone many have their eyes on as a potential dark horse in the bantamweight division, though Topuria isn’t worried about anything he’ll be bringing to the table this weekend at ABHA Arena in Doha.
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“I’m not worried about anything, but I am prepared for everything; that’s the difference,” he said with a smile. “I would be worried if I’m not prepared for everything, but all this camp, I was concentrating on becoming a better fighter.
“I know his skills, and the most important thing is that I respect him as a fighter, and that makes me work harder and harder. Every day I was working so hard, so right now, I’m prepared for every scenario.”
This has already been a banner year inside the Octagon for the Topuria family, with Aleksandre making his debut and earning his first victory, followed by Ilia claiming the lightweight title in dominant fashion at UFC 317. Now, the elder half of the duo makes the walk for the second time, where a victory on Saturday would mean a great deal.
“It means a lot, truly, but not about everything we do here — social media and all that; it’s about me, my close people,” said Topuria. “For sure it’s the promotion too, but my principle is to do it for me, to do it for my family, for my close people. This is most important, so it means a lot.”
And should be collect another win this weekend, Topuria has simple and clear ambitions for 2026 already set in his mind.
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“To keep doing what I was doing until now: become a better person, better fighter, better coach, better everything,” he said. “I want to look back always and say, ‘Today I’m better than yesterday.’
“That’s my goal… even stylistically.”
If that’s the case, don’t be surprised to see a UFC Fit Check account popping up on Instagram, with the Brothers Topuria front and center.
UFC Fight Night: Tsarukyan vs Hooker took place live from ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar on November 22, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!