Ilia Topuria is intrigued by the prospect of capturing UFC titles in three different weight divisions.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) recently vacated his featherweight championship to move up to 155 pounds, aiming to challenge the man who had ruled the division since 2022—Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC).
However, with Makhachev now planning a move to welterweight to pursue a third title, Topuria has instead been booked to face Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) for the vacant lightweight belt in the main event of UFC 317 next weekend.
While the Spanish-Georgian is grateful for the chance to become a two-division champion, he admits he’s slightly disappointed he won’t get to test himself against the UFC’s current pound-for-pound No. 1.
"To be honest, I wanted to face (Makhachev) because he was the guy who was dominating anyone and everyone (at 155 pounds)," Topuria said Friday at a media scrum ahead of an open workout in Las Vegas. "But at the end of the day, I can't control what they do. The only thing I can control is what I do. So I wanted to move up, I wanted to fight for the title of this division. That's what I'm doing. He decided to move up also. I can't do anything else but go and fight whoever wants to fight me."
Although the fight hasn’t been officially announced, Islam Makhachev is expected to face newly crowned welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena later this year.
If both Makhachev and Ilia Topuria are successful in their upcoming title bouts, “El Matador” says he’ll likely follow Makhachev up to 170 pounds in pursuit of a third UFC title.
"We'll see how he does in the welterweight division, if he wins the title and I win the title in the lightweight division. Maybe I move up or he comes down to the lightweight division and we have the fight that everyone wants to see," Topuria said.
“If Islam becomes the world welterweight champion, for sure I'm going to push for that shot and I will move to the welterweight division."
