Montirex in sponsorship deal with UFC’s Ilia Topuria, aka El Matador

British sportswear brand Montirex has inked a long-term partnership with unbeaten UFC two-weight champion Ilia Topuria. He’ll wear the brand exclusively as part of his fight training and front a global campaign launching now.

We’re told it’s a “partnership grounded in graft, belief and unity” as Topuria joins the growing Montirex athlete roster as an unbeaten name in his sport.

Georgian-born and raised in Spain, Montirex said he “overcame displacement, conflict, and the near-impossible odds of the MMA pathway to become a two-weight champion”. 

That underdog profile is something Montirex feels it shares with its new signing. The brand, which was founded in 2019 in Liverpool, said it built its increasingly strong position in UK sportswear “from the ground up through understanding its customer’s needs and crafting a unique product proposition overlooked by other brands”. 

Topuria will be seen with the Montirex logo on his chest as part of the partnership that will see him exclusively wear the brand’s products to train for all fights, beginning with the upcoming UFC Freedom 250 in June.

And the company said the link-up will “directly inform apparel built to work for elite competitors and everyday athletes alike”.

Although Montirex has links with a number of sportspeople, it said this is its “most significant athlete partnership in [its] history to date, and reflects the brand’s platform Together Made, highlighting the belief that success in sport and in business is a collective act, built by the community who back you before anyone else notices, and rise with you together through collective ambition”.

At launch, the company has a global campaign, including a film directed by Alexis Belhumeir that traces Topuria’s journey via signature playing cards, each representing a distinct era of his career, from early underdog to his fighting identity as ‘El Matador’. The film also references one of the more distinctive details of Topuria’s post-fight ritual: leaving a single rose in the octagon after each victory “as a mark of respect to his opponent”.