Adios, Featherweight.
It has been 44 days since Final Preventing Championship (UFC) Featherweight Ilia Topuria brutally slept “Baddest Motherf—ker” Max Holloway in Abu Dhabi at UFC 308 (watch highlights), and after the combat, it appeared like Topuria already had his subsequent combat lined up: a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski.
Properly, it appears plans have drastically modified as a result of at the moment (Mon., Dec. 9, 2024), Topuria appeared on the podcast El Partidazo de Cadena Cope and revealed his time at Featherweight is over.
“El Matador” was blatantly requested if his final combat towards Holloway was his final at Featherweight, and he stated, “Sure, for positive. Positively sure.”
It is stunning that Topuria already needs to go away Featherweight, however he needs to grow to be a two-division champion.
“We have to speak about it and check out my future, however for me, it is very clear how I need to do it,” Topuria stated. “I might like to maneuver as much as the following weight class, and since Islam [Makhachev] is the champion combating in January, and he will not be prepared for April or Could, I might wish to combat towards the No. 1 contender proper now, who’s Charles Oliveira… I am 27; I hope to be out by 30.”
Whereas Topuria is on a spectacular run proper now, together with knocking out Volkanovski (watch right here) and Holloway back-to-back, there are nonetheless high-level fighters within the division that he can compete towards, like Diego Lopes and Movsar Evloev. Additionally, Makhachev has little interest in combating the Spanish knockout artist.
Being a UFC two-division champion is superb for the historical past books, however totally cleansing out a division holds extra weight for legacy. Nonetheless, Conor McGregor was his idol, so it is sensible.
