Ilia Topuria’s reign as featherweight champ is history, and UFC boss Dana White’s spilling the details on why he walked away. Topuria surprised everyone by handing over his 145-pound belt, itching to test himself up at lightweight. But don’t bet on him facing lightweight king Islam Makhachev right away—White’s keeping it mysterious.
“There’s still other possibilities,” he said. “A lot of shit going on right now, otherwise I would have said [what his fight was going to be].”
With Topuria out of the picture, the featherweight division’s moving fast. Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes are set to throw down for the vacant title at UFC 314. So, what sparked Topuria’s big decision? White says it was all him.
“No, he did that,” White explained. “He said, ‘I’ve done everything I can do here, I’m ready to move up’ and he vacated it. He said, ‘I shouldn’t be holding up anybody’s opportunities.’ I respect when guys do that.” Pretty cool of him to step aside for the next guy, right?
Why Topuria Walked Away—and What’s Next
Why ditch a belt he fought so hard for? White’s got the answer. “I think he felt he had done everything with the guys that he beat. If you look at who he beat and how he beat them, right? And I don’t think he loved making that weight anymore.” Smashing Volkanovski and Max Holloway—two of the best featherweights ever—with knockouts probably made him feel like he’d peaked at 145. Plus, those weight cuts? No picnic.
Diego Lopes tossed out a theory that the UFC’s cracking down on champs holding belts while jumping divisions. White shut that down quick.
“Unless you’ve really wiped out a division, like Jon Jones who was in [light heavyweight] forever and moved up to heavyweight,” he said, “Ilia, I get it. It makes sense.” He added, “Like I said, who he’s beat and how he beat them and now he’s tired of making weight and wants to move up to [155 pounds], totally makes sense.”
Fair point—Topuria’s wins speak for themselves.
White’s not against fighters chasing two-division glory, though.
“Unless you think you can defend your title,” he said. “Listen, if there’s a guy that thinks he can do it and wants to defend both belts and has accomplished all these great things, I would have no problem with it. You’re going to be busy.” He even tipped his hat to Zhang Weili. “[She’s] accomplished just about everything you can accomplish in her weight division. I don’t have a problem with it. The philosophy hasn’t changed, just on a case-by-case basis.”
Right now, Topuria’s next step is anyone’s guess. White’s playing it coy, and the fight world’s buzzing. Will he climb to lightweight stardom, or is something else brewing? Topuria’s shaking things up, and we’re all hooked to see what’s coming.
