Outside Source
Ilia Topuria might entertain a move to welterweight in the near future. | Getty/UFC
Jack Della Maddalena’s coach, Ben Vickers, believes Ilia Topuria has no business at welterweight.
Topuria vacated his featherweight title earlier this year after defending it only once. After former lightweight champ Islam Makhachev moved up to welterweight, Topuria won the vacant lightweight title against former champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June. “El Matador” has since been teasing a move up to welterweight after a few defenses at lightweight.
However, Vickers believes Topuria is undersized for 170 pounds. Vickers believes Topuria’s style is very similar to that of his own pupil, Maddalena. Vickers also acknowledges Topuria as one of his favorite fighters due to that similarity. But Vickers believes Topuria would be too small for a potential fight against Maddalena. However, Vickers admits that Topuria’s stardom is rising to a point where he will soon be able to do as he wishes.
Vickers: Ilia is Closer to Being Able to Do Whatever He Wants
“He’s my height and I’m a midget. He needs to stay where he is,” Vickers told Submission Radio. “It’ll be a very bad decision for him to come up and fight Jack. They’re the same fighter essentially. He’s just a midget and Jack’s a bit bigger. They do a lot of the same things very well. And I love Ilia, he’s one of my favorite fighters, because I think he fights like Jack. They’re very similar. But I don’t think he has any business jumping up two weight classes and fighting Jack. But that’s up to him, if he wants to do that, fair play to him. I respect it. I think Ilia’s gonna be at a point like Islam soon, where he can do whatever he wants, because he is unstoppable.”
Maddalena is scheduled to defend his title against Makhachev in the main event at UFC 322 on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Dana White has long been exploring the idea of a super fight between Makhachev and Topuria. If Makhachev wins at UFC 322, the weight class for a potential matchup against Topuria gets more complicated.
Jack Della Maddalena’s coach warns Ilia to stay at featherweight instead of fighting Jack 👀🥶
“Ilia is my height and I’m a midget. He needs to stay where he is. It will be a very bad decision for him to come up and fight Jack. They’re essentially the same fighters, he’s just a… pic.twitter.com/sPVY9Sqfy9
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) August 29, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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