Opinion: Respect for Ilia Topuria, Even If He Made the Wrong Move

ARE YOU READY MIAMI ??#UFC314 is STACKED 🔥

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— UFC (@ufc) February 20, 2025

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In a major shock to the mixed martial arts world, Ilia Topuria vacated his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title to pursue two-division glory as a lightweight. In light of his departure, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes would clash for the vacant featherweight crown at UFC 314 on April 12. The earth-shaking developments could very well set a new standard in a sport that has been plagued by fighters attempting to become two-division champions simultaneously, resulting in at least one weight class being held up in the process. However, it is also a severely disappointing announcement in another way. I’ll start with the good.

Ever since Conor McGregor used his larger-than-life status to put entire divisions on hold in pursuit of becoming the first “champ-champ”—he fought three times outside of 145 pounds while he was the featherweight boss—a plethora of fighters have attempted to mimic McGregor. Some have succeeded—Amanda Nunes, Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier—while others have come up short. Regardless, rather than have champions focus on the kingdom they rule, they have been focusing their attention to other pastures. It has been a bane of these divisions, whether they succeed or not.

When they have succeeded, only Nunes has defended both titles while holding them. Of course, a major asterisk would be placed on one of those belts, as the women’s featherweight division was shallower than a kiddie pool, never having more than a handful of respectable fighters within the confines of the division at any given time. Thus, most never really considered it a true division, which further explains why the UFC shelved it following Nunes’ exit. Furthermore, women’s bantamweight, the other division over which Nunes reigned, was often considered to be the shallowest weight class outside of 145 pounds. In hindsight, Nunes was the only true simultaneous two-division champion. It’s not like McGregor, Cejudo and Cormier ever defended the belt in the lighter class after obtaining the title up a division; and remember, McGregor never defended a championship in either of his weight classes.

I get the feeling White was just as annoyed as I have been, as he had been more reluctant to grant those types of challenges of late. The last one only came about when Islam Makhachev’s originally scheduled opponent, Charles Oliveira, pulled out of their scheduled contest at UFC 294. Volkanovski stepped in on short notice—something that was celebrated since the result of their first encounter was highly controversial. Nevertheless, Makhachev dominated the smaller champion in the rematch, and no other titleholder has built up the cache to make an attempt since.

With Topuria vacating to move up, it appears a new precedent is being set: If you really want to pursue multi-divisional glory, you have to be willing to sacrifice the title you already possess. In that sense, should Topuria succeed in his goal of winning the lightweight belt, he should be celebrated more than any other multi-divisional champion. Why? Because he was willing to give up his championship status when none of his predecessors had to do so. It’s plausible he’s doing it to make a point, but it’s a valid one and should be honored. In a day and age where NBA players want to be paid millions of dollars to put in half-assed efforts and follow load-management plans during the regular season, Topuria is an athlete who’s actually willing to give something up in pursuit of glory.

Given that Belal Muhammad was talking about vacating his welterweight title to chase gold at 185 pounds, it sounds like this may have been something White was discussing with fighters behind the scenes. It’s too coincidental when he makes that statement, and, in a matter of hours, Topuria becomes the first champion to actually step aside. Regardless, it should be a welcome change, as we shouldn’t see divisions endure long stretches where championships aren’t defended. I don’t know an MMA fan who wouldn’t view that as good news.

However, it does provide me some heartache to see Topuria give up on being the 145-pound kingpin so quickly. With a single title defense under his belt, it’s hard to believe he’s going to have a deep enough resume to be in the argument for the featherweight GOAT with Volkanovski, Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. Sure, Topuria has wins over two of those men, but he doesn’t have the longevity of Holloway or Volkanovski. Plus, some might argue neither Holloway nor Volkanovski were in their primes when Topuria defeated them. That wouldn’t be Topuria’s fault, but it’s a fair argument. Regardless, Topuria could have quashed those debates if he had hung around a bit longer. Given that he won the title after having just turned 27, Topuria had the best shot at breaking Demetrious Johnson’s record for consecutive defenses at 11 as any of the current champions. It appears that’s not a goal in which he has any interest.

This is a huge risk for Topuria. He has fought at 155 pounds before, and he had some struggles against Jai Herbert in his lone UFC appearance in the division; and Herbert isn’t anywhere near being considered a contender. I’ll admit Topuria isn’t the same fighter he was when he fought Herbert, but given his short frame, it’s hard to believe there aren’t any lessons to be taken from that contest. After all, it was just three years ago.

I may not agree with the decision Topuria is making, but I have to respect it. More than that, I believe it will prove to be a good thing for the sport as a whole. That alone will make him a historical figure that few could rival for what they did outside of their actual fighting ability. In those terms, I wish him all the success in the world, even if I don’t believe it’s the best move for his career.