At the start of the UFC 314 main event, Ilia Topuria’s reign as featherweight champion will officially end.
UFC CEO Dana White recently announced several upcoming fights, including significant news regarding the featherweight division. Topuria has decided to relinquish his title to move up to the lightweight division, paving the way for a vacant title fight at UFC 314 in Miami on April 12 between former champion Alexander Volkanovski and rising contender Diego Lopes.
“Topuria has felt like he’s done all he can in that division, and he feels like he’s cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore,” White said during an Instagram Live session. “So Topuria will be moving up to 155 pounds and will be vacating the featherweight title. … As soon as the first punch is thrown in (Volkanovski vs. Lopes), the title is vacated. We will announce what Topuria’s next fight will be when we get it done.”
Topuria’s move comes after a stellar 2024 campaign in which he captured the featherweight title by knocking out Volkanovski at UFC 298 and then defended it with another knockout victory over Max Holloway at UFC 308. His performances solidified him as one of the UFC’s most dangerous strikers.
Now, he is set on an even more significant challenge — lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
“I really believe that I can beat the current champion, Islam,” Topuria said on the Full Send Podcast. “I really think that. He’s a great champion. You can’t be a world champion by chance; you have to do things great. He’s a beast.
“I don’t like to be a bully and fight with people that I know 100 percent that I’m going to whoop his ass, you know? I like to fight with people that the fans think that it’s going to be very competitive. That kind of expectation I like to create. With Islam, I’m going to have that. Doing the rematch with people that I already fought, I don’t think that I’m going to have the same kind of expectations, you know, for the fans.”
While his next opponent has yet to be announced, Topuria’s move to lightweight will add another intriguing contender to one of the most talent-rich divisions in the UFC.
