Unbeaten featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria revealed this week his plans to go away the division within the rapid future — together with his head coach, pointing to a tough weight reduce for the Georgian-Spaniard.
Topuria, the present undisputed featherweight kingpin, most just lately headlined UFC 308 again in October, touchdown a knockout win over former champion, Max Holloway — turning into the primary fighter to complete the Hawaiian fan-favorite fighter with strikes throughout his combined martial arts profession.
Nonetheless, earlier this week, Ilia Topuria hinted that followers might have already seen his final stroll on the featherweight restrict — and claimed he might even vacate the divisional crown, searching for a light-weight transfer, starting with a title-eliminator towards ex-champion, Charles Oliveira.
“We need to talk about it and take a look at my future, but for me, it’s very clear how I want to do it,” Ilia Topuria stated. “I’d like to move up to the next weight class, and since Islam [Makhachev] is the champion fighting in January, and he won’t be ready for April or May, I’d like to fight against the No. 1 contender right now, who’s Charles Oliveira… I’m 27; I hope to be out by 30.”
Featherweight reduce too tough for Ilia Topuria
And moreover, the principle motive for Topuria’s imminent transfer to the light-weight rank stems from his problem in making the featherweight restrict sooner or later, in keeping with his coach.
“Yeah, the real thing, I think, is he hates to cut weight,” Jorge Climent advised Submission Radio. “He does it a lot of times, and it’s very hard every time we do it. He doesn’t want to do this anymore, and that’s why he wants to go up to the next weight class, you know, because he thinks his normal weight is in that weight class.”
“In the beginning, Ilia fighting 61 kilos (bantamweight) and he’s young,” Climent stated. “And your body is changing. When you’re 20, you have a body. When you’re 25, you have another. And when you are 30, you have another. Always your muscular production (grows) and your weight is difficult to cut. We decided because he wants to feel better. Sometimes I see Ilia in 85 kilos, and he needs to be 66. We do a very big weight cut.”
