Ilia Topuria has opened up on the ‘suffering’ of his weight cuts to 145lb, explaining why he decided to move up to 155lb.
In February, Topuria vacated the featherweight title after just one successful defence, eyeing a shot at the lightweight belt. He will get that shot at UFC 317 on 28 June, when he faces former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant strap.
And speaking about his decision to leave the featherweight division for lightweight, where he fought and beat Jai Herbert in 2022, the Spanish-Georgian told ESPN Deportes: “When you’re cutting weight and you can’t eat or drink water, you don’t care about any material things.
“They can give you bags of money, they can give you all the cars you want, you don’t care at all. If they give you this little glass of water and say, ‘You can drink this and it won’t increase your weight,’ I’ll give you whatever it takes in that moment.
“I’m so low, I feel terrible. It’s like sitting naked in the middle of the street. I feel terrible, so I didn’t want to suffer anymore. I didn’t want to go through that.
“I’d already done it throughout my career. I’d already achieved my dream, which was to become a world champion. I had to close that chapter, because I didn’t want to suffer anymore. Because honestly, it’s like living in the desert, and I wanted to live on the beach.”
Topuria, 28, won the featherweight title with a knockout of long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski in February 2024. He then retained the belt with a knockout of ex-champion Max Holloway in October, preserving his unbeaten record in the process.
While many fans predicted a lengthy reign for Topuria, “El Matador” vacated the title this February. A seismic lightweight-title fight with Islam Makhachev was on the cards, but Makhachev soon emulated Topuria by vacating the 155lb gold to seek a welterweight-title shot. Later this year, Makhachev is expected to challenge Jack Della Maddalena, who dethroned Makhachev’s teammate Belal Muhammad in May.
“Why did I want to fight Islam?” Topuria said. “For one simple fact, and it’s the same with Volkanovski. If you beat someone and take the title from them at 145, it had to be Volk. It had to be Volk for me at that point, because he had the most history in the division. He was the one who dominated everyone. He was the greatest.
“It’s the same for me with Islam. I wanted to fight him simply because he had dominated everyone. So, who’s beating everyone? Islam. Well, I want to fight him because then the prize is much bigger.
“[Makhachev said:] ‘I’m not going to vacate the title even if I move up to 170.’ ‘No, Ilia has to fight someone to earn a title shot.’ Now, look: he’s moved up, he vacated the title, and I’m fighting directly for the belt.”
In Oliveira, Topuria will face one of the most dangerous fighters in UFC history. The Brazilian, 35, holds the records for the most submission wins and most finishes ever in the promotion.
Last time out, Oliveira dominated Michael Chandler to set up a title shot and a bid at becoming a two-time lightweight champion.
