Rumors Swirl That Ilia Topuria Will Vacate UFC Lightweight Title, Return Delayed to Spring 2026
As per rumours, Ilia Topuria will vacate his UFC lightweight championship and won’t return until spring 2026. Álvaro Colmenero says Topuria will not fight in January or February next year, as fans had anticipated.
Home or Fight on X, among other outlets, re-shared this news:
“According to Alvaro Colmenero, Ilia Topuria will NOT be fighting in January or February to defend his lightweight title, and predicts his next fight will be in spring [March – June]. “Things have changed a lot. There have been private situations, and you’re going to be very surprised at what’s going to happen in lightweight. I can confirm that Ilia will not fight in January. February? I doubt it a lot. If you ask me, I think Ilia will fight in spring.”
[Note: As of the time of writing this article, nothing has been confirmed by the UFC or Ilia Topuria.]
Check out the post below:
‘El Matador’ vacated his UFC featherweight championship after defending it once by knocking out Max Holloway. In pursuit of lightweight gold, Topuria moved up and wanted to fight then-champion Islam Makhachev. Makhachev vs. Topuria was a done deal until Belal Muhammad lost his title to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, after which the Russian fighter vacated his 155-pound championship and moved up to 170-pounds.
On the other hand, Topuria captured the vacant strap by knocking out former champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 317. For Topuria’s first title defense at 155 pounds, he was rumoured to fight Justin Gaethje or Paddy Pimblett. The bout was supposed to be the first UFC PPV main event of 2026 and also the first event on Paramount+.
Ilia Topuria Confirms Next Move Heading Into 2026
In an interview with Álvaro Colmenero, earlier this month, Ilia Topuria stated that he wants to fight Islam Makhachev for a pound-for-pound title at catchweight. Makhachev recently became a two-division champion after he dethroned Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322. With that win, he also dethroned Topuria as the P4P king and took the throne. Topuria wants it back and wants the UFC to create a new belt. In the aforementioned interview, he said :
“Maybe I’ll have one more fight, and then in the summer there’s a date when [the UFC] can let me move up to welterweight. Or maybe they’ll create a new belt called the ‘pound-for-pound title,’ at a catchweight and I’ll fight for [it].”
Check out Ilia Topuria’s comments below:
