Ilia Topuria officially vacates featherweight title with Islam Makhachev clash reportedly in the works
02/20/2025 03:41 AM
Ilia Topuria will bid to become a two-weight champion against Islam Makhachev later this year.
The featherweight champion won his first belt by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 last February 2024.
Ilia Topuria then spectacularly defended it by putting Max Holloway to sleep at UFC 308 in October.
Now he’s decided to move up the lightweight and fight the UFC’s pound-for-pound number one fighter.
Dana White announces Iliam Topuria’s decision
On Wednesday evening, Dana White went live on Instagram to announce a slew of big fight news.
The UFC boss most notably revealed that Topuria is set to vacate his title, which will be up for grabs when former champion Alexander Volkanovski takes on streaking contender Diego Lopes in the UFC 314 main event on April 12.
"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.
"So Topuria will be moving up to 155lbs 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."
Islam Makhachev vs Ilia Topuria is reportedly in the works
Immediately after White broke the news of Topuria’s decision, Ariel Helwani claimed that a fight between the 15-0 superstar and Islam Makhachev was already in the works.
The veteran MMA reporter believes the two men could meet at International Fight Week in June.
“The plan is for Ilia Topuria to fight Islam Makhachev later this year, I’m told. Perhaps as soon as IFW,” Helwani tweeted. “Lots to digest and dissect. Will upload a quick reax video to the channel shortly.”
Makhachev is fresh off a quick submission win over UFC 311 late-replacement opponent Renato Moicano.
There’s no obvious number-one contender at lightweight right now, but Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s protege has expressed an interest in facing Justin Gaethje, provided he gets by Dan Hooker at UFC 313 on March 8.
However, if the plan is for Makhachev to defend in June, there’s no chance Gaethje will be ready by then.
Topuria makes sense and is arguably one of the biggest fights White can possibly make in 2025.
