From Athens to Atlanta: how one Georgian warrior made us all believe in miracles

That night in Dublin? I was stood in a kebab shop in Bath, banging my mate’s phone against the wall trying to get YouTube to load faster while he screamed down the line like I was dying… never seen a finish that clean outside Georgia till now 🔥 ilia was 19 and I remember shouting “get in!” so loud the whole queue went quiet, just stared at me… classic us.

ever get the shivers watching someone’s whole demeanor change in a split second? back in the first week of 2019 ilia was cutting a promo in atlanta and some yank in the crowd started heckling in georgian, pure nonsense, like “you lot still ride horses there?” and ilia just stops mid-sentence, smiles this quiet little smile, then answers in fluent english with that accent that somehow made the insult sound respectful instead. whole gym fell silent for a heartbeat—then erupted. nobody saw the come-up coming, but you could feel it in your gut like a storm coming over the mountains. now fast forward to atlanta again and those goosebumps? we’re basically building shrines in our heads 😄

What happened in Dublin 2018 and Atlanta 2024 isn’t just two good nights—it’s the same light, just from a different angle. Back then, Ilia was fire and fury—raw power, knockout artists’ precision, and that fearless forward pressure where he’d chase opponents into corners like he owed them money. The bloke in Bath screaming down the phone wasn’t wrong; you *felt* the change in the air the second he touched that canvas. Dublin was a statement: “Georgia’s here, and we’re not going anywhere.” Now? Same core, but refined. That relentless engine room still hums, but it’s wrapped in tighter control, sharper angles, and a chess-player patience Volkanovski never had to face before. Watch the Atlanta rematch—the first round’s calm, almost clinical, like a surgeon setting the table. Then it clicks. Two rounds of chess, then the stampede. The kid who once ran through all comers now lures the kings of the jungle into his rhythm. Same fire, just less waste, more purpose. And the best bit? The man hasn’t lost the little things. Remember the Bath kebab queue? Atlanta 2024 had its own quiet moments—the split-second where he strolls back to centre cage, chin up, eyes scanning like he’s already seven moves ahead. That’s the same Ilia: equal parts poet and bricklayer. So no, it’s not nostalgia pushing the vibe. It’s the real deal—evolution, not substitution. Same Georgian warrior, just with a bigger map and sharper tools.

Ah man, Dublin 2018… I was the bloke at the back of that kebab shop in Bath too, but instead of cheering, I was trying to explain to a confused Turk behind the counter why "Georgian superstar knocking some lad out" isn’t a new season of a soap opera 😂 His response? A kebab so big it had its own postcode and a free side of confusion. Bless him, he gave me extra hot sauce for the trauma. Still got the phone pics though—beautiful carnage that was 🍿🔥 Then again, Topuria’s always had a way of turning chaos into theatre… the whole diaspora could’ve set up camp outside that kebab shop and we’d have still been there filming replays on a Nokia brick 🤣