UFC CEO Dana White is keen to clear the air on recent discussions surrounding UFC double champions.
Featherweight title challenger Diego Lopes broke the news that UFC double-champs will become a rarity, explaining that the UFC told all willing champions that they should vacate their titles if they want to challenge another division.
It was bittersweet news for fight fans, who’ve come to know and love double-championship fights, and the fighters who earned those spots, like Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, and Amanda Nunes.
Fortunately, White is here to clarify things.
Dana White dispels claims that UFC double-champs won’t exist anymore
Speaking to collective media after UFC Seattle – which coincidentally featured former UFC double-champ Henry Cejudo – White was asked about Lopes’ comments and addressed what was happening.
“If there’s a guy that thinks he can do it and wants to defend both belts and has accomplished all these great things, I would have no problem with it,” White remarked. “But, you’re gonna be busy.”
As for viable double-champ contenders, White named Zhang Weili as an example of a fighter who deserves the opportunity. Weili is a two-time strawweight champion who has defended her title four times overall.
“Weili Zhang – she’s accomplished everything you can accomplish in her weight division,” White remarked. “I don’t have a problem with it. The philosophy hasn’t changed; it’s just on a case-by-case basis.”
Dana White clears the air on Ilia Topuria vacating his title
At the UFC Seattle post-fight scrum, White also clarified that Ilia Topuria’s decision to vacate his featherweight belt was a choice made by the fighter rather than UFC Brass. White announced Topuria vacating his featherweight title in an update earlier this month.
Now, former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will fight Diego Lopes for the vacant title in the main event of UFC 314 in Miami, Florida, on April 12.
Topuria has previously admitted he doesn’t want to cut weight and believes he’s accomplished enough at featherweight to consider the move. ‘El Matador’ knocked out Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back title performances to cement himself as one of the best featherweight fighters in UFC history.
Topuria has some hope to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt, but Makhachev’s team is making it hard for ‘El Matador’ to sink his hooks into the fight.