Outside Source
The 155-pound king Ilia Topuria announced on social media on Thursday that he would taking some time off. The unbeaten former featherweight has been trading barbs with various contenders online, but for now, he has more pressing matters on his hands. Per reports, Topuria and wife Giorgina Badell have split, and he is choosing to focus on family as he has two children, a son and a daughter.
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I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible.
I don’t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon…— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) November 27, 2025
Topuria did suggest that he would be back, and in not that this was a retirement.
“I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year,” the Georgian fighter wrote. “I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible. I don’t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon as the matters are resolved I’ll let the UFC know I’m ready to begin my return.”
The Road So Far
Topuria became one of a small number of two-division champions when he conquered the featherweight throne and then moved up to lightweight to take that one as well. At 145 pounds, the Spanish-trained athlete blazed his way through the division with seven wins in the weight class culminating in knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway—becoming the first to knock out the Hawaiian along the way.
He then leapfrogged to 155 pounds in June, facing Charles Oliveira for the vacant strap as the former champ Islam Makhachev has since gone up to secure the welterweight belt. Makhachev is one of many that Topuria wants to fight, even suggesting that they should meet for a new catchweight “pound-for-pound” championship. It is currently unclear if the promotion will create an interim lightweight belt or if it will be stripped, but rumors are indicating that Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett may be the two tabbed for a post-Topuria championship affair.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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