ARTICLE AD BOX
UFC announced last week that Ilia Topuria decided to vacate his featherweight title, and in order to fight for the vacant belt, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes will fight. This decision of Topuria was not at all easy, but the 25-year-old fighter decided to permanently move to the lightweight category and continue his career there. He realized that it was no longer necessary to hold the featherweight belt, as he was considered to have achieved all that was possible in that category.
After he announced his change of category, many started asking questions about his move and why he came to this decision. Also, many wondered how the UFC would react to his decision.
It seems that Dana White, the president of the UFC, was not completely satisfied with this decision, but he admitted that such changes will be under his authority in the future.
Dana White reacts
At yesterday's press conference, Dana White stated that from now on he will not allow the champions to immediately move to other categories and attack new belts if they are not ready to defend both. When asked if he ordered Topuria to leave the belt, Dana White replied that it was entirely Topuria's decision.
"No, it was purely his choice. He said that he did everything he could in the featherweight division and that he is now ready to move to lightweight. He himself decided to leave the belt. He thought that it would be unfair to hold the belt and block other fighters. I have a lot of respect when fighters make this decision. Just look at who he beat and how - unbelievable. I don't think he was even happy to lose weight," said Dana White at the press conference.
This move by Topuria shows his great collegiality and respect for other fighters, because he does not want others to suffer because of his decision. Now, in a new category, he has new challenges ahead of him and everyone is wondering who will be his first opponent in the lightweight division. Although it is unlikely that he will get an immediate opportunity to fight Islam Makhachev, recently Charles Oliveira has been mentioned more and more as a possible opponent.
We'll see if Topuria can be as dominant in this weight class, and it's certain that he'll do whatever it takes to show that he's ready for big things.
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