Ilia
Topuria’s reign at 145 pounds will be short lived.
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UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday night that Topuria will
vacate the featherweight title as he transitions to 155 pounds. As
a result, Alexander
Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes
for the vacant 145-pound belt in the UFC
314 main event. Topuria captured the belt with a second-round
knockout of Volkanovski at UFC 298 and defended the title with a
third-round stoppage of Max
Holloway at UFC 308 this past October. UFC 314 takes place on
April 12 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
According to White, a fight for Topuria will be announced soon.
Volkanovski has not competed since the aforementioned loss to
Topuria. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Aussie had an impressive
run at 145 pounds, accumulating 12 consecutive victories and five
successful title defenses along the way. However, he did suffer a
pair of losses against Islam
Makhachev at lightweight in a bid to become a two-division
champion.
Lopes, meanwhile, has been victorious in five consecutive outings
since falling to Movsar
Evloev in his Octagon debut. Most recently, the Lobo Gym
MMA-trained Brazilian took a unanimous vedict over former title
challenger Brian
Ortega at UFC 306.