Ilia Topuria’s coach, Jorge Climent, initially provided key updates on his fighter’s future, revealing his struggles to make weight. Now, Topuria has officially vacated his featherweight title due to those weight issues and moved up to the lightweight division. However, Dan Hooker claims that the UFC forced Topuria to relinquish his belt after repeatedly turning down a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski overweight concerns.
Volkanovski was set for a rematch with ‘El Matador’ this year, but now he likely faces lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. However, Volkanovski’s teammate Dan Hooker believes the UFC stripped Topuria of his featherweight title as punishment for repeatedly refusing the rematch due to weight issues. Speaking to Submission Radio, Hooker said,
“If they were going to have [Topuria] shoot for the double-champ status, then I don’t think they would have stripped him of his title. He’s a guy that’s inactive. I know that Volk’s been trying to fight Ilia and the UFC has been wanting to put the Ilia fight together for the longest time. He’s continually said he can’t make the weight.”
Dan Hooker believes Ilia Topuria was forced to vacate the featherweight title by the UFC because he kept turning down the Volk rematch due to weight issues 👀 pic.twitter.com/BhJ3idGXui
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) February 21, 2025
Hooker argues that if Topuria’s move to lightweight was part of the UFC’s plan, they wouldn’t have stripped him before he even fought for the belt.
Ilia Topuria Confident Ahead Of Potential Showdown With Islam Makhachev
Topuria shares the same ambition as Alexander Volkanovski—to defeat Islam Makhachev. However, unlike Volk, Topuria has openly mocked Makhachev, claiming he is the superior fighter. Rather than pursuing a rematch with Volkanovski, Topuria is focused on becoming a two-division champion. Speaking to Fox Sports Australia, he confidently stated,
“Me personally, what I want to do is move up to 155 because I know by fact that I can become a two-weight world champion. Islam, he’s a great fighter, he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound for the people. For me, it’s me. I’m the best fighter in the world so, I know I can do with him whatever I want to do because I know I’m much better than him.”
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Ilia Topuria still wants a piece of Islam Makhachev 👀
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 8, 2025
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/JhcsIY0jFH pic.twitter.com/alj0DTecSK
Topuria sees himself as the future of MMA, with a style Volkanovski hasn’t faced before. Confident in his dominance, he even suggested switching things up by submitting Volk instead of knocking him out again.
Also Read: Ilia Topuria Details Reasons Why He Must Be Fighting Islam Makhachev At Lightweight
