Ilia Topuria Doubles Down on Intentions to Fight Charles Oliveira Before Dana White Clears Stance

“We’re working on it. We’ve got a lot of s–t to do. Yes, obviously, he’s one of the biggest stars in the company. If we had something planned, we would’ve announced it already.” Dana White stated during the UFC 314-post fight presser while shutting down the growing hype around Ilia Topuria’s immediate title shot for the lightweight gold. Many fans had hoped the Georgian-Spaniard would be the ‘David’ to take down a ‘Goliath’ like Islam Makhachev. But with that title shot looking less likely for now, the former featherweight champ seemed to be turning his sights toward Charles Oliveira instead.

‘Le Leyenda’ had been throwing occasional verbal jabs at Islam Makhachev, but lately, he’s turned up the heat on Oliveira. He recently went on a relentless rant against ‘Do Bronx’. The Spanish-Georgian highlighted Oliveira’s career losses and stated, “I haven’t dissed [Charles Oliveira]. I’ve told the truth. He has 10 losses, I haven’t said anything else. He has 10 losses. Five by knockout, four by submission, one by decision. He says [lightweight] is the toughest division there is. When he was fighting at 145 [pounds], even Cub Swanson beat him up. That’s where the conversation ends.”

Moreover, he also claimed that the UFC had promised him a title shot right away. But that doesn’t seem to be the case now! And so he’s targeting Oliveira for a reason. On top of that, the Dagestani camp had said that they were not interested in granting Topuria an immediate shot at the gold. This is why ‘La Leyenda’ is expected to slay a top 155fer first and then go for the crown. And who better to prove his mettle against than Oliveira?

Appearing on the PBD podcast, Topuria said, “I have two names in my mind right now. And we focus all training on those two names, it’s – Charles and Islam. In case he (Dana White) says that I’m fighting Charles, I’m ready for that because I’m doing a lot of [training], watching his fights, seeing his weaknesses, where he’s dangerous, all that. We study him, and the same thing with Islam. He is a southpaw, he moves a little bit different. He tends to go for the takedowns. I’m so excited, if someone asked me, like I would love to fight with Islam, that would be a great one because I have the ability to shock the world”

This is not the first time Topuria has mentioned that he’s interested in fighting Oliveira. ‘La Leyenda’ was interviewed by Eurosport Journalist Álvaro Colmenero about a month ago, in which he said, “I’m preparing for Islam Makhachev and all my training is focused either Islam or Charles. So, I have these two names in mind. Neither of them seems dare to fight me. Then they have these phrases they make their own ‘A champion will fight whoever they’re told’ and so on. and then ‘I don’t wanna fight him because he’s small’ then I changed weight classes. I’m not small, I’m in the same weight class now. “

The Spaniard-Georgian fighter has been showing a whole new mindset lately. One that’s been making him a real problem for anyone standing across from him. We all know he has what it takes to rise and face any challenge. Now, it might be the time to ease some of the suspense around who his next opponent could be. And this is where UFC 314 enters!

The card was stacked with action, but one of the biggest takeaways came from the co-main event. Paddy Pimblett stepped into the Octagon and completely dominated Michael Chandler, ultimately finishing ‘Iron’ in the third round. Most of us figured he’d use the moment to call out ‘the hand sanitizer boy.’ But, his post-fight callout took a different turn!

Paddy Pimblett excludes Ilia Topuria from his UFC 314 call-out list

Paddy Pimblett just picked up the biggest win of his career and honestly, he couldn’t have looked better doing it. He put on an absolute clinic against Michael Chandler. It was the kind of performance that made people stop doubting. With that win, the door to a potential lightweight title shot is cracked open, and Paddy’s officially on the climb. But here’s what caught everyone off guard. While most fans expected him to go take Ilia Topuira’s name, he didn’t include him in the call-out.

‘The Baddy’ cheekily explained the reason during the UFC 314 post-fight press conference. When asked why he didn’t mention the former featherweight champ, Paddy shrugged it off with a smirk and said he simply forgot to add that guy to his list and doubled it up by calling him irrelevant. However, he’s also keen to welcome Topuria!

Pimblett said, “To be honest, I forgot about him,” Pimblett laughed, during the post-fight news conference. “I forgot all about him or I would’ve mentioned him in the cage, you know what I mean? I don’t call him ‘Hand Sanitizer Boy’ anymore. … But like I said, I literally forgot all about him. That’s how irrelevant he is. I’m ranked higher than he is at lightweight, so I’d love to welcome him to 155.”

Who will welcome Ilia Topuria in the lightweight division? Let us know your thoughts.