Ahead of his move up to the lightweight division, Ilia Topuria has announced he will be changing his identity.
After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to become the UFC featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria became one of the promotion’s biggest stars.
The Spaniard’s starpower was then increased tenfold when he became the first fighter ever to knock out Max Holloway when they clashed at UFC 308.
Following two monumental wins at 145lbs, Topuria recently announced his shock title vacation declaring that he will move up to the lightweight division to pursue the title.
Ilia Topuria announces a change of identity ahead of next UFC challenge
Topuria has continuously chased a fight against Islam Makhachev, the current king at 155lbs, however, Makhachev and his team aren’t willing to fight ‘El Matador’ without him beating a contender first.
The 28-year-old was told to fight a contender like Charles Oliveira, but Oliveira recently declined a potential fight against Topuria.
With the Spaniard’s next move relatively unknown at this point, despite calls for him to be the next title challenger, Topuria has announced that he will be going into the next stage of his career with ‘a new identity’.
“El Matador has been my ally in every fight. But next time, I’ll step into the Octagon with a new identity. #NewEra,” Topuria announced in a post on X.
Ilia Topuria could miss out on title shot with Justin Gaethje favored
Although Topuria was seemingly in a perfect position to receive a lightweight title shot, especially considering the magnitude of a potential fight between him and Makhachev, he could be set to miss out.
At UFC 313 earlier this month, longtime lightweight contender, Justin Gaethje returned to the win column with an incredible win over Rafael Fiziev.
Following Gaethje’s win, UFC boss, Dana White claimed he could be next to fight Makhachev, especially with Makhachev’s team favoring him.