UFC Featherweight King Ilia Topuria Taps Brakes on Lightweight Plans

I will not leave the title vacant. The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven't had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and I will do…

— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) December 12, 2024

Ilia Topuria is being cryptic about his plans to move up to lightweight.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight king recently revealed that we might have seen the last of him at 145 due to a lack of fresh challengers. Topuria (16-0) said he plans to move up to lightweight and face Charles Oliveira, eventually win the title and retire before he turns 30. “El Matador” attracted the attention of lightweights like Dustin Poirier, Paddy Pimblett and Renato “Money” Moicano by announcing his plans to move up to 155. Meanwhile, Diego Lopes, who was originally rallying for a featherweight title shot against Topuria, shifted focus to former champ Alexander Volkanovski.

However, Topuria more recently warned everyone to hold their horses. The Georgian Spaniard says he is not leaving the 145-pound belt vacant and is yet to discuss his lightweight plans with the UFC. But the 27-year-old also vows to capture the title at lightweight at some point.

“I will not leave the title vacant,” Topuria said on X. “The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven't had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and I will do the same in the next one.”

Meanwhile, Topuria’s coach Jorge Climent Tommasi sounds confident about the champ’s move to lightweight. According to Tommasi, Topuria is tired of cutting weight for 145, which is consistently getting harder. Tommasi claims “El Matador” sometimes walks around as heavy as 187.

“He has to cut weight and it’s very hard every time we do it… He don’t want to do this anymore… I see Ilia in 85 kilos and he needs to be 66… We do very big weight cut,” Tommasi told Submission Radio.

Topuria won the title with a knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 this past February. The undefeated champ then defended his title by handing Max Holloway his first knockout loss at UFC 308 in October.