Spanish sales agent Filmax unveiled its latest pickup Wednesday in Madrid, director Giampaolo Manfreda’s ultimate fighting documentary “Matador,” about Spanish-Georgian world champion MMA fighter Ilia Topuria.
Produced by Señor Mono, with the support of Spanish pay TV giant Movistar+ and Filmax, “Matador” is being presented at a multitudinous press conference in the Spanish capital. “Matador” will hit Spanish theaters via Filmax on Sept. 19. Having acquired international rights, Filmax is offering distributors in other territories the opportunity to release the film in their own markets around that same time.
Nicknamed El Matador, Topuria became the UFC world champion in February in a blockbuster match against Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski, ending a four-year title reign.
“Matador” documents eight months of Topuria’s career, beginning with his fight against Josh Emmett in Florida, which elevated him into the global top five of UFC’s fighter rankings, and culminating with his title match against Volkanovski.
The film demonstrates the incredible training and personal sacrifices a top fighter must endure to reach the highest levels of the sport. It was produced by a team that was given unprecedented access into Topuria’s personal and professional lives.
According to producer Iñigo Pérez-Tabernero, “Producing this movie has been one of my life’s greatest gifts because it has allowed me to delve deep into the process of how a person becomes a star and manages to achieve everything that he always dreamed of. But even more important than that, it has allowed me to get to know and to portray the person behind the celebrity, a person who fearlessly opened the doors to their private life for the whole world to see”.
“We are sure we are going to have a very busy summer. I can’t think of a more interesting and attractive product for the international market than ‘Matador,’ a film which so wonderfully portrays the process behind creating a legend and offers us a close-up look at one of the most attractive, powerful and magnetic figures in international sport and entertainment,” Ivan Diaz, head of international at Filmax, added. “Our clients have already started to show a lot of interest in the project, and we are sure that the film will make a big impact in the international marketplace from September until the end of the year.”
