Ilia Topuria Hints at Interim Title in the Lightweight Division

Nov 27, 20255 months ago2 min read

Ilia Topuria has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm what we all thought would be the case. We won’t see the lightweight champion in the first quarter. He stated that he’s “going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon...

Ilia Topuria has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm what we all thought would be the case. We won’t see the lightweight champion in the first quarter. He stated that he’s “going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible”.

June 28, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira fight in the 5-round Lightweight Title Main Event bout during the UFC 317 event at T-Mobile Arena on June 28, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Alejandro Salazar

The full statement can be seen here:

I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible.
I don’t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon…

— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) November 27, 2025

We also know that Ilia Topuria is going through a divorce, which was only confirmed by the champion himself recently.

Did Ilia Topuria Hint at Interim Title?

One of the more important aspects of his X statement saw him state:

“I don’t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon as the matters are resolved I’ll let the UFC know I’m ready to begin my return.”

Saying “The UFC will make the matchups needed” potentially suggests that Dana White (who is scheduled to address the media later today) will make an interim title fight at lightweight, allowing for a clear #1 contender and next opponent for Topuria when he is ready to return.

The question is, who would that be between? Former interim champion, Justin Gaethje has stated that he won’t fight again unless it’s for the title. Arman Tsarukyan put in a career best performance last time out when he defeated Dan Hooker. Paddy Pimblett has heat with Topuria and is arguably the biggest star aside from the champion in the division.

March 8, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: JUSTIN GAETHJE 27-5-0 of Tucson, AZ defeats RAFAEL FIZIEV 12-4-0 of Korday, Kazakhstan by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 during UFC 313 at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas Las Vegas USA Mikael Ona

Former two-weight world champion and current UFC commentator, Daniel Cormier, confirmed that the UFC has plans to make a fight between Gaethje and Pimblett. Will it have the caveat of an interim title attached to it as Topuria suggested? We could find out later tonight!