“One of the greatest gifts God has given me.” These were the words that Ilia Topuria chose to describe his meeting with Giorgina Uzcategui Badell. We already knew that the couple first laid their eyes on each other during a dinner and ended up with butterflies in their stomachs. But now, during a recent interaction with the Nelk Boys, the lightweight champion revealed some never-heard-before details about the first meeting. 

Recently, the Nelk Boys shared a video of them training and having a fancy dinner with Topuria. And during their training session, Topuria revealed that his favorite place in the United States is Miami. That’s the place where Kyle Forgeard and his teammates live. But the big revelation came when Forgeard asked ‘El Matador’ to get a spot in Miami, and the lightweight champ admitted that he already has one. He continued, “Actually, I met my wife in Miami.” Forgeard and the rest of the team were flabbergasted. Sensing their disbelief, Topuria said, “Yeah, she was living there.”  

It’s a generalized belief that factors like wealth disparity, a fast-paced lifestyle with a focus on superficial connections, make it nigh on impossible to get a romantic partner in Miami. That’s why Forgeard commented, “Damn! Who says you can’t meet your wife in Miami? You gave me hope now, because everyone says you can’t meet your wife in Miami.” But according to the Spaniard, one can find his wife in “any place in the world.” However, in a separate video that went viral on social media, it seemed like Topuria felt that the Nelk Boys were disrespecting Badell. 

He asked, “But why are you saying that?” Kyle Forgeard simply stated that it was common talk about Miami. But it seemed like Topuria had already taken a bit of offense. He retaliated, “Because you go to the party and this is the only place you see. But you don’t know there’s another part of Miami, of people that just, they work…” Forgeard continued to say how good Miami is for a workout, but Topuria was already walking away with his gloves in his hands. 

Nevertheless, it was all cool in the end, as the scene on the YouTube video shifted to Topuria and others driving to a restaurant. But do you know that the former featherweight champion once brought up a hypothetical situation involving Badell to justify his move to a higher weight class? 

Ilia Topuria brings his wife in to defend his stance to fight at a higher weight category

Not too long ago, Ilia Topuria declared that he was ready to chase Islam Makhachev to the welterweight division if need arises. No doubt, the entire fighting community believed that it’s never going to happen. After all, Topuria has already amassed 10 additional pounds to move to the lightweight division. But during a conversation with Ariel Helwani on his YouTube talk show, ‘El Matador,’ he revealed his mentality. 

The Spaniard said, “Listen, my mentality is always like that. If I’m walking in the street with my wife and someone says something to her, I’m not going to ask him, ‘How much is your weight? How much is your reach, or height, or this or that?” Like I will stay there and I’ll take his head off. This is how I think. Like, this is the fight business. I don’t care how much is your weight. If we have a fight, let’s fight. If you have an extra 10 pounds, congratulations, but that’s not gonna help you.”

Even Giorgina Badell has been pretty vocal about her support for Topuria. She claimed that Topuria’s deeds were nothing short of inspirational and was proud of him. The couple welcomed their first child in 2019 and their second in 2024. They’ve already spent a long time together, and given the support that the duo has for each other, we can assume that their path will remain intertwined for a long while. But what did you make of Topuria’s attitude toward Forgeard?