Ilia Topuria poses with two UFC belts after victory against Charles of the Bronx. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.
Lightweight champion (up to 70,3 kg) and former featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg), Ilia Topuria wants to continue making history in the UFC and dreams of a third belt, but he made a promise to the organization to, at least, postpone his plans for now.
Participating in the program 'About Last Fight', on the official UFC channel, Ilia Topuria revealed that he is also thinking about seeking the welterweight belt (up to 77,1 kg), but that he made a promise to the Ultimate that he would not seek it immediately after winning the UFC 317, when he knocked out Charles of the Bronx.
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“I thought about moving up, but in the last conversation I had with the UFC, they asked me to please not tell them after the fight that I wanted to move up to welterweight. They asked me to promise. I promised. Fingers crossed, but I promised,” Topuria joked.
Ilia Topuria weighs up next targets as lightweight champion
Although interested in the third belt, Ilia Topuria understands that he has issues to resolve in the lightweight division. The champion's priority goes by the name of Paddy Pimblett, with whom he had a face-off shortly after winning the belt.
“This (Pimblett) is the guy I’m really going to enjoy punching in the face. I’m going to enjoy this fight a lot. I know I can do whatever I want to him. Tell me, boy, what do you want me to do to you? I’ll do whatever I want. I don’t even want to waste my words,” the champion teased.
When one of the show's hosts suggested the name Justin gaethje, former interim champion, as the first challenger, Ilia Topuria changed the subject.
“The only thing I noticed was that you don’t like the guy (Gaethje) very much. I don’t know why you would want to put him against me,” he concluded.
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