UFC boss Dana White has teased the idea of Ilia Topuria headlining the first big UFC Paramount card next year.
As we know, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will want to make a big splash when they begin their partnership with Paramount in 2026. As such, there’s been a lot of speculation regarding who could take part in the first major event on the network – and one of the names that keeps popping up is none other than UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.
He’s already achieved some great things in mixed martial arts but as we look ahead to the future, it certainly feels like Topuria has a whole lot left to give the sport. He is young, he’s marketable, and he’s one of the most exciting fighters in all of combat sports. All that’s left right now is for the promotion to book him in another fight.
With many believing he’ll battle Justin Gaethje in his next outing, Dana White provided an update on the Paramount card in question, as well as Topuria’s chances of being a headliner.
White’s view on Topuria headlining first big UFC Paramount card
“Literally today,” White told reporters after the final episode of Contender Series when asked about planning. “Matchmaking was today, and we started working on the first Paramount card today.”
“It’s a possibility,” White said when asked about “El Matador.”
“We’re always going to try to put on the best cards that we can,” White said. “We’ve had a great relationship with ESPN, and we were talking earlier, everybody is already starting to feel it. There’s a lot of relationships between the ESPN team that comes to all the fights and works and the UFC team, and everybody is starting to feel it coming to the end here. They’ve been great to us, and they’ve been great to the sport. We want to put on a badass last card for them.”
Quotes via MMA Fighting