Conor McGregor came to defend Ilia Topuria after the champion announced his plans to walk away from the Octagon by the time he reaches his physical peak.
Ilia Topuria is on the verge of potentially vacating the UFC featherweight title in favor of a permanent lightweight move. Conor McGregor, who has had his fair share of public feuds with Topuria, surprisingly came to Topuria's defense over his future in the Octagon.
Topuria looked set for a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski for his next title defense. But he has since backed down on that position, as he admitted in a recent interview with Spanish broadcaster Juanma Castaño.
Photos by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images, Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“I'm 27, I hope to be free by the time I'm 30,” Topuria said. “Right now, I no longer have the motivation in my division to defend the title.
“Now I want to go higher [weight class] and we'll see how everything goes.”
Topuria may want to move up to lightweight and fight former champion Charles Oliveira next year. At the time of writing, neither Oliveira nor the UFC top brass have responded to Topuria's comments and plans to vacate the featherweight belt.
McGregor, who relinquished the featherweight title after knocking out José Aldo, understands where Topuria is coming from when it comes to his exit plan.
Conor McGregor slams Ilia Topuria's critics of the announced UFC exit plan
In a recent message to X, McGregor responded to Topuria's comments about retirement.
“This is the truth that will hurt all the little wannabe nobodies,” McGregor tweeted.
“Fighting was too easy for me, I did it all when I was 27 years old.”
McGregor's defense of Topuria is surprising on several levels. Topuria violently threatened McGregor following his recent featherweight title defense against Max Holloway at UFC 308, following McGregor's invitation to 'meet him in Marbella'.
If Topuria makes the move to lightweight, he would look to become the newest two-division champion in UFC history and join McGregor and other legends. McGregor hasn't fought since losing to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images
Ilia Topuria's UFC future is in doubt after recent comments
McGregor was set to return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 before withdrawing due to a toe injury. Chandler remains optimistic about making the McGregor fight happen after a loss to Oliveira at UFC 309.
Topuria earned the UFC featherweight title by knocking out Volkanovski earlier this year at UFC 298. He is undefeated in his professional career with recent wins over Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell and Jai Herbert.
Before their relationship fell into turmoil, Topuria praised McGregor several times during his career and called him out after he won the title at UFC 298. But McGregor hasn't fought at 145 pounds since the Aldo knockout, and his current physical frame is making a return from almost featherweight. impossible.
If Topuria is seriously considering retirement in the midst of his physical prime, he would be the latest UFC star to potentially come out on top. Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in 2020 after a win over Justin Gaethje, fulfilling a promise he made to his mother following the tragic death of his father.
In addition to the ongoing negotiations between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall, it appears the UFC brass has other pressing matters to attend to if Topuria's comments are genuine. 2025 could see a shakeup in the UFC featherweight division if Topuria decides to leave for a lightweight pursuit.
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