Soon-to-be former featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria has been ruled out of a title eliminator at the lightweight limit in his eventual divisional debut — with his team claiming it’s immediate title fight for undisputed gold or bust for the finisher from the get-go.
Topuria, who is set to vacate the undisputed featherweight championship, will see the title up for grabs at UFC 314, with former-foe, Alexander Volkanovski set to take on surging Brazilian challenger, Diego Lopes in a showdown for the crown as soon as April.
And linked with a massive lightweight title siege in the immediate aftermath of the confirmation of his divisional move, according to reports last week, the Georgian-Spaniard has been linked with a spectacular debut at UFC 317 this summer against pound-for-pound number one, Islam Makhachev.