Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who now wears gold at 155 pounds, wants to become the first fighter in UFC history to score three championship titles in three different weight classes.
He’ll need some help from Islam Makhachev (27-1), who is on a quest to join the double-champ club against welterweight kingpin, Jack Della Maddalena (18-2), as part of the UFC 322 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
And there’s no better place to fight than UFC White House.
“I think it would be one of the biggest fights in UFC history,” Topuria said during a recent press conference in Georgia (via She Loves the Gloves). “No one has ever fought for a third title, and Islam has dominantly finished everything he needed to do in his division and then changed weight classes. I think it’s a fight of a giant magnitude, which suits us all, as well as the UFC. If Islam loses, he may as well go back to Dagestan, to his farm and continue shepherding his sheep. But if he wins, I’ll definitely move up. Definitely. 100 percent.”
He may not be the only UFC fighter gunning for a record-breaking third title.
Topuria (17-0) has some work to do of his own. While his return date has yet to be confirmed, UFC CEO Dana White suggested “El Matador” could headline the promotion’s debut on Paramount+, once matchmakers are able to lock down the next contender for the 155-pound strap.
It’s likely to be one of these two veterans.
“I’m very happy that this new deal with Paramount was signed,” Topuria added. “There were some challenges with the ESPN deal in terms of holding events in Europe. For example, when we had conversations about holding a UFC event in Spain, they would always ask for it to be held at the American prime time, which is 4-5 a.m. in Spain. This, however, causes a lot of logistical challenges like transportation, restaurants, etc — the entire system. Now, with this new deal, [UFC] will be able to hold events in Europe at local prime time, which works well for all of us who live on this side of the ocean.”
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