Ilia Topuria won’t be fighting until summer 2026 at the earliest, but don’t expect the rising Spanish sports star to disappear off the face of the earth.
Topuria is going through what sounds like an ugly
divorce and has cleared his calendar of all major distractions until that is taken care of. He still showed up to promote WOW FC, the Spanish fight promotion he co-owns alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. They held a card in Madrid on Saturday night and “El Matador” sat down with ESPN Deportes’ Papa Legaspi to discuss his fight break.
“Well, as I have communicated, I am going through personal problems,” Topuria said. “I do not have an exact date when everything will be fixed. I hope that as soon as possible, as soon as it’s solved, I’ll be ready to go back in the Octagon. I prioritize at this time the welfare of my family, of my children. So as soon as everything is solved I will be back to the Octagon and will give it all, the show that everyone deserves.”
Topuria was initially expected to return at UFC 324 for the promotion’s debut Paramount+ card on January 24th, but now Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett will headline instead. The UFC has been extremely cool about this switch-up and the loss of one of their biggest stars for several months.
“The truth is that they were excellent with me,” Topuria said of UFC brass. “They have a special connection with me, they have been understanding without having to give a lot of explanations. From the very first moment they have extended their hand, I have been offered their support in any time I needed it.”
“Now that I have the experience of going through this part of the sport as a promoter and not only as a fighter, I understand in many more ways that perhaps I was not able to understand before. So I am very happy, to be honest, for the relationship that I have with the UFC, and the understanding they have had with me.”
Another person who has shown Topuria understanding: Paddy Pimblett. While “The Baddy” is still more than happy to mock “Chorizo” and build up a potential bout, he’s made it clear that Ilia’s personal problems won’t become fight fodder.
“I always said he looked like someone who’s a super entertaining guy who did a superb job,” Topuria said. “He had his slips with tweets he made about Georgia. But I think we all learn from our mistakes, and deep down I notice that he is a person that understands family problems, personal problems, respects it. One thing has nothing to do with the other, my personal problems and my personal life.”
“In the end we are professionals, we are going to have a professional match, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for everyone and remains one of the most exciting fights for all the fans.”
A Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria match would be huge, and the only man standing in the way of it happening is Justin Gaethje.
“I always accept God’s will, whatever He wants to happen will be good if Paddy wins,” Topuria joked. “If Justin wins, the UFC has different plans that I can’t talk about at this moment. But if I were offered to fight Justin at the White House, that would also be very exciting for me. It would be something I would be very excited about.”
“I don’t know how capable he will be of ruining the plans of the UFC, and Paddy Pimblett’s plans,” he added. “It’s going to be quite difficult, not impossible, so I wish him all the luck. But I don’t know if he’d be lucky beating Paddy Pimblett because then he has to fight me, and that’s not very lucky.”
Whoever wins at UFC 324 could end up facing off with Topuria in the cage … or not. According to “El Matador,” his team is still figuring out whether he can make the trip to Las Vegas for January 24th.
“We are making decisions at this time whether we will make that trip or not,” he said. “But I hope so.”
