On the night of February 19, Dana White went live on Instagram to drop the biggest bombshell in MMA in recent times. Ilia Topuria is officially moving on from featherweight to lightweight.
According to White, Topuria felt like he had done everything he needed to in the 145 lbs category and, more importantly, his body just couldn’t handle the weight cut anymore. “Topuria felt like he had cemented his legacy, and his body could not make the weight anymore,” White explained.
Not everyone agrees with Topuria’s decision, but Calvin Kattar is backing the move. The fellow featherweight believes Topuria has proven enough at 145 pounds and sees no reason to hold him back from chasing bigger challenges at 155. Kattar said on the latest episode of Inside Fighting
“Not crazy surprised, I kind of see what he is talking about. He took out Max Holloway and Volk, two arguably greatest featherweights of all time. People have jumped up weight classes doing less.”
When asked how he sees Topuria fairing against Islam and if he can get the job done, Kattar responded – “It’s tough to doubt him”.
With that being said, other featherweights who were hoping to get a shot at Topuria, were left disappointed with the champion’s decision to move up in weight.
Diego Lopes was looking to fight Topuria, but with the featherweight champ officially moving up to lightweight, that won’t be happening. Instead, Lopes will take on Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant 145-pound title at UFC 314 on April 12.
Speaking with ESPN, Lopes explained that the UFC has made it clear—if a champion wants to move up in weight, they have to vacate their belt first.