Ilia Topuria still waiting on return date: ‘I have nothing on the horizon’

What’s next for Ilia Topuria? Not even the lightweight champion knows as we all continue to play the waiting game.

Topuria fought just once in 2025, knocking out Charles Oliveira to take the 155 pound belt. There had been a lot of chatter about “El Matador” kicking off the UFC’s big move to Paramount / CBS in January, but that hasn’t come together. Now Topuria says he has nothing lined up and no word from the UFC on when he could compete again.

“I haven’t been told anything about any fights, so I have nothing on the horizon,” he told KOlmenero.

What’s the hold-up? It could be as simple as the UFC being glacial in their scheduling. Or it might have to do with Topuria reportedly getting a divorce. It’s also possible that Ilia is making demands for the biggest fights possible and the UFC refuses to accommodate him.

“I can sense things as always, and it also depends on me, right?” he said. “Whoever wants to fight, in the end, the interests of both sides come into play. We’ll see what happens. I have Paddy on my mind. I want to fight Paddy, if they don’t let me move up to welterweight to fight Islam, because the fight I would really like to have is against Islam in a third division.”

“Maybe I’ll have a fight and then, in the summer, there’s a date where they’ll let me move up a weight class – and I can fight for the third belt. Or maybe they’ll create a new belt called the ‘pound-for-pound’ at a catchweight, where we both meet and fight for that title. Let’s see. There are many options as always, and let’s see what the future holds.”

As cool as that would be, the UFC can’t want this game of musical chairs with their championship belts to continue. Historically they like their champs to stay put and defend against whoever they decide is next. Topuria just moved up a division, and now he wants to move up again? That’s brash, and just look to how Dana White has reacted to Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira to see how the UFC handles big fights they don’t like.

What would we as fans like to see from Topuria in 2026? At least two fights. Any two fights! Will we get that? In today’s UFC, it’s not a certainty.