Ilia Topuria will not be back inside the octagon this year. UFC CEO Dana White closed the door on a 2026 comeback on Wednesday, telling The Jim Rome Show that the former lightweight champion is being lined up for early next year.
The UFC CEO confirmed that ‘El Matador’ would be back in 2027:
“In 2027. He’ll come back in early 2027,” White said. “We’re working on that, too.”
Topuria, 29, has not competed since June, when Justin Gaethje stopped him in the main event of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House. That defeat, the first of his professional career, dropped him to 17-1 and cost him the lightweight belt.
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The timeline is a shift from September, when White said on the same show that Topuria was ready to fight. Topuria’s trainer, Jesus Gallo, has said the fighter will be ready from February 2027.
Whatever the date, White is clearly enjoying the options at 155 pounds. He ran through most of them in one breath:
“That entire lightweight division, you’ve got Gaethje, Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, Oliveira, Paddy Pimblett, Holloway. The whole top 10 is straight killers. It’s the best and the most bad*** division we have right now.”
However, White declined to name a frontrunner arguing it would spark a frenzy of misleading Instagram posts.
Check out Dana White‘s comments on Ilia Topuria below:
Ilia Topuria’s loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250
The June 14 card was the first UFC event staged at the White House, and Ilia Topuria looked ready to retain his title. He hurt Gaethje to the body in the second round, dropped him and hunted an armbar and a triangle choke. Justin Gaethje survived to the bell.
Gaethje then turned it in the third, dropping Topuria with a right hand and battering him until his left eye was almost closed. The doctor checked Topuria between rounds, and his corner stopped the fight at the end of the fourth, giving Gaethje the undisputed title for the first time in his UFC career.
Topuria came out of it with reported fractures to both orbital bones, a broken nose and other injuries. Gaethje has not fought since and says both hands still hurt.
Arman Tsarukyan, who knocked out Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 in September, says he expects to fight for the belt in the first quarter of 2027. Paddy Pimblett submitted Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 329 and is waiting on the same call.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
