Coach reveals reason why Ilia Topuria plans to exit featherweight division: ‘It’s very hard’
Unbeaten featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria revealed this week his plans to leave the division in the immediate future — with his head coach, pointing to a difficult weight cut for the Georgian-Spaniard.
Topuria, the current undisputed featherweight kingpin, most recently headlined UFC 308 back in October, landing a knockout win over former champion, Max Holloway — becoming the first fighter to finish the Hawaiian fan-favorite fighter with strikes during his mixed martial arts career.
However, earlier this week, Ilia Topuria hinted that fans may have already seen his last walk at the featherweight limit — and claimed he may even vacate the divisional crown, in search of a lightweight move, beginning with a title-eliminator against ex-champion, Charles Oliveira.
“We need to talk about it and take a look at my future, but for me, it’s very clear how I want to do it,” Ilia Topuria said. “I’d like to move up to the next weight class, and since Islam [Makhachev] is the champion fighting in January, and he won’t be ready for April or May, I’d like to fight against the No. 1 contender right now, who’s Charles Oliveira… I’m 27; I hope to be out by 30.”
Featherweight cut too difficult for Ilia Topuria
And furthermore, the main reason for Topuria’s imminent move to the lightweight rank stems from his difficulty in making the featherweight limit in the future, according to his coach.
“Yeah, the real thing, I think, is he hates to cut weight,” Jorge Climent told Submission Radio. “He does it a lot of times, and it’s very hard every time we do it. He doesn’t want to do this anymore, and that’s why he wants to go up to the next weight class, you know, because he thinks his normal weight is in that weight class.”
“In the beginning, Ilia fighting 61 kilos (bantamweight) and he’s young,” Climent said. “And your body is changing. When you’re 20, you have a body. When you’re 25, you have another. And when you are 30, you have another. Always your muscular production (grows) and your weight is difficult to cut. We decided because he wants to feel better. Sometimes I see Ilia in 85 kilos, and he needs to be 66. We do a very big weight cut.”
