A seismic shift has occurred in the UFC’s featherweight division with the news that Ilia Topuria is vacating the title with immediate effect in order to pursue his goal of winning the lightweight belt.
That means the 145lb title is now up for grabs, and that’s led to former featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski being handed an opportunity to win back the belt when he fights Diego Lopes in the main event of UFC 314 in Miami, Florida on April 12th.
The 28-year-old Topuria had first teased the potential for this to happen in an interview a couple of months ago when he declared his desire to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title, and insisted he’d be willing to give up his current title in order to do so.
However, days later Topuria appeared to walk back that statement and suggested that he’d still defend his title.
Now the monumental move has become a reality though, with Dana White confirming the reasons Topuria has decided to walk away from his champion status at featherweight.
“Topuria has felt like he’s done all he can in that division, and he feels like he’s cemented his legacy, and his body cannot make the weight anymore,” White said on Instagram.
“So Topuria will be moving up to 155lbs and will be vacating the featherweight title. As soon as the first punch is thrown in [Volkanovski vs. Lopes], the title is vacated.
“We will announce what Topuria’s next fight will be when we get it done.”
The undefeated Topuria has compiled a perfect 16-0 record in his MMA career to date, and that includes an eight-fight winning streak in the UFC since joining in 2020.
He began his UFC journey with a win over Youssef Zalal and followed that up with a trio of KO wins. Then came a step-up in competition and he proved to be well up for the challenge, starting with a submission win over Bryce Mitchell at the end of 2022.
Then came a decision win over Josh Emmett, paving the way for a title fight with the long-reigning champion Volkanovski, a fight that would confirm him a major star when he delivered a stunning KO finish in the second round.
Topuria has since defended the belt once by knocking out another legendary former champ in Max Holloway in October of last year, which further fuelled his belief that he has what it takes to beat the current No.1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, 155lb champ Islam Makhachev.
Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Volkanovski has spent the past year on the sidelines after that KO to Topuria, which had come just a few months after his own attempt to beat Makhachev up at lightweight had also ended in a knockout defeat.
He’d been angling for a title rematch with Topuria next, which would have added significance given that he’s the only fighter to ever have beaten Volkanovski at 145lbs.
With Topuria having now left the division, Volkanovski will instead be facing a fresh challenger in the 30-year-old Lopes, who has been a revelation in the 145lb ranks over the past couple of years.
Lopes first arrived in the UFC as a very short notice replacement to fight the undefeated Movsar Evloev in May of 2023, and despite being a heavy underdog he gave his opponent a torrid time in the early rounds, though he ultimately lost on the scorecards.
Lopes then proved that performance was not a fluke by going on to put together an impressive five-fight winning streak, including wins over Sodiq Yusuff, Dan Ige and most recently Brian Ortega last year to take the No.3 spot on the rankings.
Volkanovski vs. Lopes fight for the vacant title will headline a UFC 314 card that will also feature a five-round lightweight co-main event between Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett.
