A lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje is rumored to be in the works for a marquee UFC event to celebrate the promotion’s new broadcasting deal with Paramount+ in January.

The rumor comes from Spanish reporter Alvaro Colmenero of Eurosport, who has good connections to Topuria’s camp, though there’s no sign of anything official from the UFC yet.

“The UFC wants to open the new contract with Ilia Topuria in January in Los Angeles, and in this case the rival would be Justin Gaethje,” Colmenero claimed on Eurosport.

Dana White had recently indicated that the UFC had two major events in the forefront of their minds heading into 2026, with the first being a showcase event at the start of the year, followed by the historic UFC: White House event, which President Trump has now confirmed will take place on June 14th.

“If you look at what we’re we’re looking down the barrel of right now, we’re about to go on a new network on Paramount,” White said after UFC 320. “And we need to deliver a massive, incredible card in January.”

If the fight does come about then it certainly would be a fitting way to kick off the Paramount+ era, and it helps clear up the picture at the top end of the 155lb division, given that No.2 contender Arman Tsarukyan has also been lined up to fight the No.6 ranked Dan Hooker at UFC Fight Night 265 in November as well.

The missing piece in that puzzle however is the No.7 ranked Paddy Pimblett, who had been linked with a possible leap to title contention against Ilia Topuria due to their ongoing rivalry and his own star power, while the seven-fight unbeaten star had also been mentioned as a possible opponent for the other fighters like Tsarukyan, Gaethje and Hooker too.

Only the No.3 ranked Max Holloway remains without a fight currently in the lightweight division’s top eight however, suggesting that could be the match-up the UFC intends to make.