The UFC featherweight division has been quite the rollercoaster lately. Back in February, Ilia Topuria shook things up by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the belt. The Georgian-Spanish fighter didn’t slow down, following up with a knockout win over Max Holloway in October. But here’s where things get a bit messy. Instead of focusing on defending his newly acquired featherweight crown, Topuria has been calling out UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
This hasn’t gone down well with Team Volkanovski, particularly his coach Joe Lopez. He didn’t mince words when addressing Topuria’s ambitious plans. According to him, Topuria needs to deal with the fighters at Featherweight and then think about moving up a division.
“You got to have at least five or six title defenses before you start looking at doubling up, you know. You’re just holding up divisions. When you’ve cleared out a division, then you’ve got the right to jump up a division. But till then, you just got to fight the guys in your division,” said Lopez via Submission Radio.
Lopez makes a fair point about divisions getting held up when champions chase second belts too quickly. This situation is not liked by anyone, especially the UFC boss Dana White. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski wants his rematch, and this probably will be the next title defense for ‘El Matador.’
Ilia Topuria has stated that he would rather defend his title in Madrid, which makes sense from his perspective. Dana White seems to be on board with this plan. Soon, UFC may see its expansion in Spain, with a champion of its own headlining the card.
Alexander Volkanovski Agrees With Ilia Topuria On A Spain UFC Event
After Topuria’s jaw-dropping knockout victory at UFC 308, the conversation has shifted to “where’s next.” And surprisingly, former champ Volkanovski is playing nice about the whole thing. He is willing to accept to take on the Spanish fighter in his home country.
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The undefeated Spanish-Georgian champion had made it clear that he wanted his title defense against Volkanovski in Madrid. ‘The Great’ is showing some unexpected flexibility here, as he agreed that Ilia Topuria deserved that.
“Ilia – congratulations, impressive, I’ll see you wherever, Madrid? We can do Madrid early next year…I’d love for him to have his moment in Spain… Hopefully we’re not waiting years for it, that’s the only problem. If they could get that done as soon as possible, he deserves it.”
Volkanovski actually praised Ilia Topuria’s performance and threw his support behind the idea of a Madrid showdown. The timing puzzle is getting interesting, with UFC 312 already scheduled for Sydney in February 2025. But Volk seems more concerned about getting the fight booked quickly than where it actually happens.
