SEATTLE — Ilia Topuria appeared destined to add his name to the list of all-time great UFC featherweight champions after back-to-back knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in 2024. Instead, UFC CEO Dana White announced this past week that “El Matador” vacated his title, opening the door for Volkanovski and top contender Diego Lopes to battle for the gold on April 12 at UFC 314 in Miami, Florida.
Topuria, 28, now heads to the perpetually stacked lightweight division to dethrone the champion, Uncrowned’s pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter Islam Makhachev. Or at least, that’s the expectation.
Speaking to media after UFC Seattle, White stated that Topuria’s next step isn’t finalized just yet.
“There’s still other possibilities,” White said of Topuria’s lightweight future. “There’s a lot of s*** going on right now. Otherwise, I would have said [who he’s fighting].
“He did that [vacated]. 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.”
Since his MMA debut in 2015, Topuria has been virtually flawless. Though he campaigned at 145 pounds for most of his career, his lightweight jump won’t be his first appearance at 155 pounds. At UFC London in 2022, Topuria scored a first-round knockout of Jai Herbert in his lightweight debut before dropping back down to featherweight. Topuria fought as low as bantamweight when he won the title in Cage Warriors.
Although the era of two-division champions has slowly died out, White doesn’t have a problem with the concept — he just wants to make sure they’re willing to be active in both weight classes.
“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. But you’re going to be busy,” White said. “I think [Topuria] felt he had done everything with the guys he beat. You look at who he beat and how he beat them, and I don’t think he loved making that weight anymore.
“Unless you’ve really wiped out a division — like Jon Jones, who was in light heavyweight forever, then moved up to heavyweight. Ilia, I get it. It makes sense. 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 ’55. Totally makes sense.
“[UFC strawweight champion] Weili Zhang, she’s accomplished about everything you can accomplish in her weight division, and I don’t have a problem with it [if she wants to try for a second belt at flyweight],” he concluded. “The philosophy hasn’t changed. It’s just on a case-by-case basis.”
Makhachev has also been adamant about his goal of becoming a two-division champion, though he and UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad are friends and occasional teammates. Muhammad also has his next challenger lined up against Jack Della Maddalena for UFC 315 on May 15.
Makhachev’s next successful defense of his lightweight title will be his fifth, extending his own UFC record after breaking the division’s previous benchmark with his first-round submission of Renato Moicano at UFC 311 in January.
