“I can tell you from a very reliable source that the UFC is not going to strip Ilia, they will give him all the time he needs,” ESPN’s Carlos Contreras Legaspi told Alvaro Colmenero. “If it is necessary to defend an interim position for some reason, which I hope not, they will let him do so.”
“The situation has been taken very well by the people at the UFC,” Legaspi added (transcribed by Bloody Elbow). “They have a lot of faith in the star status that Topuria has today. So for those who are thinking that something strange could happen, I see it as very unlikely.”
The 28 year-old Topuria (17-0) is going through a public (and somewhat messy) divorce and could find himself sidelined for the rest of the year as they battle for custody of their daughter.