Ilia Topuria wants to make Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history … by 2027.
UFC Featherweight king Topuria makes his highly anticipated first title defense at UFC 308 this weekend (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) against Baddest Motherf—ker (BMF) Max Holloway from inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
While Topuria focuses on this weekend’s incredibly tough fight against “Blessed,” the undefeated fighter has his eyes set on UFC history.
Today (Tues. Oct. 22, 2024), UFC on TNT Sports asked Topuria what he thinks he will achieve in three years’ time.
“Probably a three-weight champion,” Topuria said. “Yeah, that’s my goal. You’re not going to see me in the Welterweight division like this: skinny. You’re going to see my different. That’s the goal. Move up to the Lightweight division, get that belt, and then move up to the Welterweight division.”
An endless number of fighters have claimed that they will be the ones to win three belts, from Raul Rosas Jr. to Tresean Gore (remember him) to Israel Adesanya; however, none have done it.
To be real, there is only one fighter who has a real chance of achieving it sooner rather than later: current Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira, who has claimed the Middleweight title and is only missing the Heavyweight belt.
Of course, there are outliers like Islam Makhachev, who has all of the talent in the world and might only need an opportunity to get multiple belts. Also, Conor McGregor, who might never fight again, is the UFC’s golden goose and can get a title shot in a third division coming off 405935 losses if need be.
Who knows where Topuria falls in all of these categories, but if he does decimate Holloway as he predicts, the path to UFC history could come soon.
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