Ilia Topuria’s Next Chapter: Dominance at Lightweight or a Risky Move?
- Preston Witwit
- Feb 27
- 3 min read
Over the past couple of weeks the UFC dropped wild news to us fans, one in particular that caught the eye of many of us was the news of the Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria moving up to Lightweight. This move up to lightweight means a lot of things, including Topuria being mandated to vacate the Featherweight title. Due to the vacating, we will now see Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes compete for the undisputed gold at UFC 314. The big question mark in all of this is why did he move up and some even ask will he get an immediate title shot? The big news has absolutely struck every MMA fan this week and has only filled us with anticipation for what will happen next.
Since becoming a professional fighter Ilia Topuria hasn’t lost a single fight. In all of his fights we see him display the skills of a true martial artist. The only weakness people can point to is his size, but he has proved that this is no problem due to how ferocious his power is. In his ‘early days’ in the UFC he was widely regarded as a very good grappler, but it’s his boxing that has caught the eye of every fan. His boxing style is a combination of power, volume, slick technique, and great head movement. His style has prevailed against the cream of the crop at Featherweight with knockouts over Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway, both who are widely regarded as the 2 greatest Featherweights of all time. He also holds one of the few 10-7 rounds ever scored in combat history in his dominant performance against Josh Emmett. So, why in the world would he ever move up a division where he was dominating?
A lot of rumors have credited it towards the weight cut and how outside of camp he is speculated to weigh around 187 lbs. That can definitely make a fighter want to move up in weight, but a champion who has dominated the division? Something seems fishy here as I believe he would have defended the title at the bare minimum 2 more times. As his next two defenses would’ve been against either of Alexander Volkanovski, Diego Lopes, or Movsar Evloev. I believe out of these three his hardest matchup would be against Diego Lopes due to his size and versatility on the ground and the feet. It was also a matchup I think a lot of fans wanted to see because they’re both 2 young prospects with a versatile skill set and wild power in their hands. But I don’t think he (Ilia) was ducking this matchup, rather I think he has a bigger vision with this move to Lightweight.
Ilia Topuria has repeatedly told the UFC and the UFC fans that he will be a 2 division champ, quite possibly a 3 division champion. There is not a single fighter in the UFC that wants to fight Islam Makhachev more than Topuria right now. Topuria is Makhachev’s worst stylistic matchup in my opinion because of his striking ability. Not only is his offense great, what’s even greater about Topuria is his defensive skill set. His head movement and takedown defense have proven to be superior against every opponent he has faced inside the Octagon. Topuria vs. Makhachev is also the biggest fight that the UFC can make right now. But, will it happen?
There have been reports that Makhachev’s team has declined the fight because of 2 reasons; one he doesn’t see how a win against another Featherweight can help him, and the second reason is that he wants him to fight a contender before he gets a crack at gold. Topuria has repeatedly said that this is ok with him and that all he wants to do is accomplish his dream of being a double champ. So, will we get a treat this year and witness Topuria have a shot at history or will he have to wait his turn?
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