Topuria vacating UFC featherweight title; Volkanovski-Lopes set
Ilia Topuria is relinquishing the UFC featherweight championship and will move up to the lightweight division for his next fight, UFC CEO Dana White announced Wednesday.
As a result, former 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski will take on Diego Lopes for the vacant title in the UFC 314 main event April 12 in Miami.
White said Topuria will officially lose the title when Volkanovski-Lopes begins. He didn't announce Topuria's next fight.
"Topuria has felt like he's done all that he can in that division, and he feels like he's cemented his legacy," White said on Instagram Live. "And his body cannot make the weight anymore. ... We will announce what Topuria's next fight will be when we get it done."
Topuria captured the belt with a second-round knockout of Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February 2024. The 28-year-old defended the title once, knocking out former champ Max Holloway at UFC 308 last October. The win over Holloway cemented Topuria as a candidate for Fighter of the Year.
Topuria, ranked No. 4 on the UFC's men's pound-for-pound list, hinted at a move to 155 pounds in December and has expressed interest in a superfight against Islam Makhachev.
The plan is for Topuria to challenge Makhachev for a second title later this year, according to Uncrowned's Ariel Helwani, though the matchup hasn't been finalized.
Topuria, who represents Georgia and Spain, is one of the biggest stars in MMA at the moment. He's undefeated as a professional, holding an 8-0 record in the UFC and a 16-0 record overall. Topuria has fought at 155 pounds once before - in 2022 - and won the fight by knockout.
White announced several other notable matchups for UFC 314, including a five-round co-main event between lightweights Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett.
Chandler, the No. 7-ranked contender, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 last November. That was his first fight in over two years. Chandler opted to sit on the sidelines after a loss to Dustin Poirier in November 2022 and pursue a megafight against UFC star Conor McGregor. It was scheduled to headline UFC 303 last June, but McGregor withdrew two weeks before the event due to a toe injury. Months later, Chandler decided to return to the Octagon against Oliveira instead.
Pimblett, ranked No. 12 at 155 pounds, will get the biggest test of his career when he faces Chandler. The 30-year-old Liverpool native is 6-0 in the Octagon, with wins over the likes of King Green and former interim champ Tony Ferguson.
UFC 314 will also feature a welterweight bout between top-15 contenders Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates, as well as former Bellator two-division champion Patricio "Pitbull" Freire's highly anticipated debut against Yair Rodriguez.
Here's the entire card as of Wednesday:
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes
- Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Yair Rodriguez vs. Patricio Freire
- Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates
- Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes
- Dan Ige vs. Sean Woodson
- Yan Xiaonan vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Jim Miller vs. Chase Hooper
- Darren Elkins vs. Julian Erosa
- Sedriques Dumas vs. Michael Oleksiejczuk
- Sumudaerji vs. Mitch Raposo
- Alberto Montes vs. Roberto Romero