“Stop Celebrating”: Ilia Topuria Plans to Dominate New Weight Class Without Giving Up His UFC Title

Ilia Topuria has a message for his doubters: don’t start celebrating just yet. The reigning UFC bantamweight champion announced plans to move up to the lightweight division, but he’s making it clear that he’s not leaving his featherweight title behind.

After he had announced in an interview that the world had seen the last of him at featherweight, there was a clamoring to know whether he would look to become a two-division champ or vacate his belt

He has now clarified all that doubt by claiming that he plans to rule both divisions.

“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.”

Known for his relentless dominance in the featherweight division, Topuria seems unfazed by the challenges awaiting him at lightweight. As a matter of fact, in order to prove himself before challenging for the title, he is already eyeing a massive debut fight. His target? None other than Charles Oliveira, the former lightweight champion and one of the most dangerous fighters in the division.

Topuria’s confidence is palpable as he added,

“Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere, I have conquered my division, and I will do the same in the next one.”

The move, while bold, reflects ‘El Matador’s‘ fighter’s ambition to carve his name into UFC history. By holding onto his featherweight belt while chasing glory at lightweight, Topuria is aiming to join the elite ranks of fighters who have held titles in multiple divisions.

However, how he plans on defending both remains to be seen.

This plan of his has already stirred up a lot of conversation, even furthering the comparisons to Conor McGregor.

Is Topuria pulling off a McGregor

Could Topuria be trying to follow the Conor McGregor blueprint?

Initially, Topuria was expected to defend his featherweight title in a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski in Australia. But is that still happening?

Logistically moving up to lightweight makes sense for him. Already 27, the Spaniard wants to be out of the fight game by 30.

So, the best way to do that is by getting some big money fights. Right now, the lightweight division is the only weight class that can potentially give him that, along with a reasonable chance at success. It is stacked to the gills with superstars like Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier among others.

Every single fight in lightweight is bound to generate some serious PPV number. So ideally, he could hold on to his featherweight title and still have a go at the lightweight strap.

After all, it’s sort of what McGregor did as well. He won the title from Jose Aldo at featherweight and then beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title and defended neither.

Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes Topuria intends to walk the path laid for him by the man he’s styled himself on.

“Conor never defended the featherweight strap… it seems like he (Topuria) maybe trying to do the same thing. Move up to lightweight, forget about featherweight because ‘been there, done it, got the t-shirt.”

So, the only question now is whether Topuria will indeed leave featherweight in the rearview mirror or if he’ll surprise everyone and defend his title like he is claiming.