'The Champ is back': Ilia Topuria | MMA News
Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria may very well be back in the octagon sooner reasonably than later. “El Matador” teased his return in a social media post on Tuesday.
“The Champ is back,” Topuria wrote on Instagram accompanied by training images and videos.
In November, Topuria announced that he was taking an prolonged break from combating to deal with divorce. It was unknown how long the champion can be sidelined but he indicated that he wouldn’t be combating in the first quarter of 2026. In his absence, the battle promotion opted to crown an interim titleholder.
Former interim champion Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett fought for the interim crown in the UFC 325 main event on Jan. 24. Gaethje defeated “The Baddy” to turn into two-time interim titleholder and earned a title unification bout against Topuria.
Topuria, a two-division UFC champion, received the 145-pound title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February 2024. He defended the featherweight championship once, knocking out former titleholder Max Holloway at UFC 308.
Following his knockout wins over two of the best featherweights in UFC historical past, Topuria relinquished his 145-pound championship to transfer up to the light-weight division and problem for a second UFC divisional title. He knocked out former champion Charles Oliveira to win the vacant light-weight championship at UFC 317 last June. He’s anticipated to face Gaethje in a title unification bout last this yr. It’ll be Topuria’s first light-weight title protection.
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