Ilia Topuria issues message to featherweight division: ‘I will not leave the title vacant’

Ilia Topuria has a message for all his fellow featherweights.

Earlier this week, the UFC featherweight champion suggested that his time at 145 pounds may be at an end, saying he is considering vacating the title to move up to the lightweight division. In response, Diego Lopes — who is among the top contenders at featherweight — quickly suggested he and former champion Alexander Volkanovski fight for the vacant title. And apparently that doesn’t sit right with Topuria.

On Thursday, “El Matador” sent a message to all the featherweights out there that he is not planning to vacate his title, and that his move to lightweight is far from a certainty right now.

“I will not leave the title vacant. The decision to move up to the next category is entirely mine. I haven’t had any conversations with the UFC yet, so everything is still to be decided. Stop celebrating because I’m not going anywhere. I have conquered my division and I will do the same in the next one.”

Topuria is currently the front-runner to win 2024’s Fighter of the Year after knocking out Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title and then doing the same to Max Holloway in his first title defense.

It appeared that a rematch with Volkanovski was next up for Topuria until the champion suggested he may abandon the weight class. Now perhaps those plans are also on hold.