Ilia Topuria is the reigning UFC featherweight champion, but he has made it clear he wants to move up to lightweight to pursue a title at 155 pounds.
Originally, Topuria seemed to hint at vacating his 145-pound title as he told a Spanish outlet that he has probably already had his last fight at featherweight. However, on Thursday, December 12, Topuria posted some clarification on social media.
According to Topuria, he doesn’t plan on vacating his title at featherweight but still wants to go after the lightweight title.
There is some confusion here as it will be impossible for Topuria to remain featherweight champion if he cannot or is unwilling to fight at 145 pounds.
Topuria’s coach spoke to Submission Radio on Thursday and explained how hard the weight cut is for Topuria to get down to 145 pounds, so it is understandable why he is interested in moving up.
In Topuria’s post, he mentioned he hadn’t spoken with the UFC about his plans. It will be interesting to see what Dana White and the rest of the decision-makers think about Topuria’s plans.
It could be argued that the biggest fights for Topuria are at 155 pounds and above. Topuria mentioned a fight with lightweight No. 1 contender and former 155-pound champion, Charles Oliveira.
That fight would be huge and could headline a pay-per-view, even if it wasn’t a championship fight. If Topuria wins that fight, he could face the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight championship.
No matter who the opponent would be, that would also be a huge fight for Topuria. Fights against other top lightweights like Dustin Poirier, who has been teasing his retirement fight for months, Justin Gaethje, and Dan Hooker also have some level of interest.
The next step in this story will be taken once White and the UFC weigh in on Topuria’s plans and determine if they will allow him to hold up the featherweight division while he chases lightweight gold.
Contenders like Alexander Volkanovski, Diego Lopes, and Movsar Evloev deserve an opportunity to fight for the championship. Topuria has only defeated one of them, so it would be a bit unfair to deprive Lopes and Evloev of opportunities, and to some degree, Volk should at least get a chance to regain the title he lost to Topuria in February.
Expect to hear some concrete info on this as soon as Saturday when White may be present at UFC Tampa, and he’s certain to get hit with questions about Topuria’s future.
Speaking of UFC Tampa, here is a look at the card which is headlined by Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley, and co-headlined by Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo.
- Colby Covington vs. Joaquin Buckley (Welterweight)
- Cub Swanson vs. Billy Quarantillo (Featherweight)
- Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva (Flyweight)
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino (Light Heavyweight)
- Daniel Marcos vs. Adrian Yanez (Bantamweight)
- Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos (Light Heavyweight)
- Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar (Lightweight)
- Drakkar Klose vs. Joel Alvarez (Lightweight)
- Sean Woodson vs. Fernando Padilla (Featherweight)
- Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima (Featherweight)
- Miranda Maverick vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth (Flyweight)
- Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras (Bantamweight)
- Piera Rodriguez vs. Joseline Knutsson (Strawweight)
I’ll have post-fight information on Saturday and weigh-in results on Friday.
