Ilia Topuria is taking a brief step back from competition.<\/p>\n
The reigning UFC lightweight champion released a statement on social media Thursday, explaining why he will not be making the walk to the octagon anytime soon. Topuria wrote he is \u201cgoing through a difficult moment in my personal life\u201d and that \u201cI want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
See Topuria\u2019s full statement below, in which he added he doesn\u2019t \u201cwant to hold up the division.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I\u2019m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon as the matters are resolved I\u2019ll let the UFC know I\u2019m ready to begin my return.\u201d<\/p>\n
The undefeated Topuria (17-0) had an eventful 2025. Following momentous knockout victories over Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in featherweight championship bouts in 2024, Topuria announced his plans to move up to the lightweight division to potentially challenge then-champion Islam Makhachev. However, Makhachev decided to make his own move up, jumping to welterweight and leaving Topuria to face Charles Oliveira for a vacant 155-pound title at UFC 317 this past June. Topuria defeated Oliveira via first-round knockout to claim the vacant belt and become the 10th fighter in UFC history to win titles in two divisions.<\/p>\n