Earlier this week, Ilia Topuria’s head coach, Jorge Climent, revealed that the featherweight champion has decided to abandon the 145lbs weight class and will officially move up to lightweight.
The comments made by Climent came as a surprise, especially considering that Topuria was expected to defend his title against Alexander Volkanovski following his knockout victory over Max Holloway this past October.
After his impressive performance against ‘Blessed’, Topuria and Volkanovski faced off again, hinting at a potential rematch for the featherweight title.
Ilia Topuria addressed his coach’s remarks on whether he plans to vacate the title, clarifying his intentions. He has expressed a strong desire to eventually step into the lightweight division to challenge Islam Makhachev in a fight anticipated to be one of the biggest in UFC history.
As the rivalry between Topuria and Makhachev heats up, the lightweight champion has recently commented on the possibility of facing the Spaniard. Climent indicated that once Topuria officially transitions to lightweight, he will likely vacate the featherweight title, which left many fans taken aback.
However, Topuria refuted this notion, stating clearly that he has no intention of vacating the 145lb title. “I will not leave the title vacant. The decision to move up to the next (weight) category is entirely mine,” he declared, emphasizing that he hasn’t yet had conversations with the UFC regarding his next steps.
He continued, “Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and will do the same in the next one.” Although he did not conclusively dismiss the rumors about moving up to lightweight for his subsequent fight, Topuria maintained that he remains committed to defending his featherweight title while striving for double champion status if he does decide to make the leap.
In a recent interview with Spanish radio, Topuria mentioned that he would like to face Charles Oliveira next, especially since Makhachev is already scheduled to fight Arman Tsarukyan in January.
He noted that discussions regarding his next fight with the UFC haven’t commenced yet, but the speculation surrounding his potential move to lightweight will likely prompt the promotion to initiate talks soon.
Initially, the plan appeared to be for Topuria to defend his title against Volkanovski midway through 2025, potentially in Spain. Despite outlining his plans for moving up, Topuria seems poised to conduct at least one more title defense at 145lbs, reiterating that he is “not going anywhere.”
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