Ilia
Topuria would welcome an opportunity to move up to welterweight
after his next title defense.
Topuria will put his lightweight title on the line for the first
time against interim champion Justin
Gaethje in the main event at
UFC White House on June 14. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard
has always teased a move up to welterweight to fight the champion,
Islam
Makhachev. Topuria recently doubled down on his aspirations of
becoming a three-division
UFC champion. Topuria would love the opportunity to move up for
a title shot after his upcoming title defense against Gaethje.
While some believe Topuria will have a size disadvantage at
welterweight, “El Matador” believes there are no rewards without
risks.
No Risk, No Champagne
“Always, always. I want to collect a third belt, everyone knows
that,” Topuria told UFC on Paramount+ . “And after this fight, if the
UFC wants to give me the opportunity to move up to the welterweight
division and fight against the current champion, Islam
Makhachev, I will be very happy. Why not? If you don’t take
risks, there’s no champagne.”
Topuria was the featherweight champion when he started calling for
a shot at the lightweight title against then-champion Makhachev.
However, Makhachev defended the lightweight title four times before
moving up to welterweight, where he dethroned Jack
Della Maddalena to win the title last year. Meanwhile, Topuria
defended the featherweight title once before moving up to
lightweight, where he won the vacant title against Charles
Oliveira. A potential matchup between Topuria (17-0) and
Makhachev (28-1) is arguably the most anticipated booking in recent
UFC history. Rumors say that Topuria vs. Makhachev for the
welterweight title was originally planned to headline the White
House card on June 14. While Dana White has denied the rumors, both
parties hinted that they had been approached about the
booking.