Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria recently made an appearance on the Ariel Helwani show, ahead of his showdown with Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 317. In this interview, the Spanish-Georgian phenom would drop the trash-talking facade he usually puts on in pre-fight build-ups to be as sincere as he could about Islam Makhachev’s move to welterweight in a bid to fight for the UFC welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena.
In which Ilia Topuria believes the reason Makhachev left the division was that he no longer wanted to undergo healthy weight cuts. The same reason Topuria left the featherweight division.
“I don’t think he’s ducking me, to be honest. I would be lying to you if I told you that he’s ducking me. I think he’s tired of the weight cut. He wants a new challenge. He moved to the welterweight division, failed, and thinks that he has a chance to become a double champion. I think this is all he’s trying to do. If Belal would have beaten Jack Della Maddalena, would you have been fighting Islam this weekend? No, because what we were told was, if Belal remained welterweight champion, he would have stayed at 155 and he would have fought you. Do you believe that? 100%. He wouldn’t have another option. I think that not a lot of people understand how hard the weight cut is. When you get tired of the weight cut, there’s no name in the world that motivates you to fight. There’s no money in the world—you just want to take care of your health. This is the reason why I switched weight classes, and I think he’s doing the same thing.”
The two dominant champions have similar reasons for their departures from the weight classes they once ruled, as they have beaten the most notable names they could and now seek greater glory against bigger opponents, with Ilia Topuria trying to earn two-division champion status.
Ilia Topuria is done cutting weight, and maybe everyone else is too.
Weight cuts are still a controversial topic across all combat sports, as they offer significant advantages against those who do not cut a substantial amount of weight or cannot cut as much as someone with specific genetics can. However, with promotions like ONE Championship attempting to change the playing field with their hydration tests, maybe we will see changes across the combat sports world, should these be proven to be as fail-proof as possible.
