“El Matador” is ready to come back.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria has been sidelined since his first pro loss Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 last June (watch the highlights).
According to UFC CEO Dana WhiteTopuria is now ready to plan his comeback.
“Our guys are always in touch with him — we don’t have him on the schedule right now, but Topuria is ready to fight and we’re ready for him,” White told Jim Rome.
Rome then asked what was more likely: a rematch with Gaethje or a huge fight with his rival Paddy Pimblett.
“Both sound good to me,” White said. “They’re both great. We’re not losing either fight. They’re both great fights; I don’t know. Obviously the rematch with Gaethje is incredible. The Paddy Pimblett fight is amazing – as bad as these two hate each other.”
However, an immediate championship rematch with Gaethje makes significantly less sense.
Topuria did not have a successful lightweight title defense before losing the belt, and the first fight was far from controversial. Gaethje beat the undefeated champion for four rounds and have already insisted that Topuria must earn a new titleargues about it Arman Tsarukyan is worth more.
