Ilia Topuria hasn’t even fought Justin Gaethje yet, and fans are already talking about a possible move to welterweight.

The speculation only intensified this week following a shocking admission from Alex Pereira’s coach, Plinio Cruz, who recently revealed how big the UFC lightweight champion was while training with the Brazilian’s team.

According to Cruz, ‘El Matador’ was carrying significantly more weight than one would expect from someone who had spent years competing at featherweight.

“He told me, man, he’ll never make that weight again,” Cruz said on Connect Cast. “He suffered too much. He was almost 90 kg at my gym.”

That number raised a lot of eyebrows. After all, 90 kg is equivalent to roughly 198 pounds, suggesting that Ilia Topuria weighed near 200 pounds just weeks before the UFC Freedom 250.

If that’s so, it helps explain why the former featherweight champion has constantly stated that he will never return to 145 pounds.

Making featherweight at that size would necessitate a hard 50-pound cut, which is becoming increasingly rare as fighters become more aware of the long-term health consequences. And we’ve previously seen how dangerous these situations can be.

Khamzat Chimaev reportedly tried to lose 46 pounds in preparation for his middleweight title fight against Sean Strickland at UFC 328. The process became so severe that reports claimed his body essentially shut down before he could finish losing the final few pounds.

As a result, other fighters have openly considered going up rather than continuously subjecting themselves to such drastic cuts. That’s why the comments from Alex Pereira‘s camp have immediately reignited talk of Ilia Topuria eventually jumping all the way to 170 pounds.

In fact, even Arman Tsarukyan believes this will be the Spaniard’s last outing at lightweight.

Arman Tsarukyan believes Ilia Topuria will take the bold step up

The timing is interesting too. In just two weeks, Ilia Topuria will face Justin Gaethje in one of the year’s biggest battles at UFC Freedom 250. But despite his title defense approaching, he seems more focused on the welterweight title, as ‘El Matador’ has hinted time and again that his long-term goal is to challenge Islam Makhachev.

Doing so would mean bypassing contenders like Arman Tsarukyan and immediately chasing a chance to become a three-division UFC champion. And surprisingly, ‘Ahalkalakets’ understands why Ilia Topuria may take that path.

“If UFC lets him move up, he’s going to move up,” Arman Tsarukyan said at his RAF 9 post-fight scrum. “It’s better to fight with Islam than me. Because it’s a third title, big money, and if he loses to Islam, it’s OK.

“He moved up to a weight class and lose to pound-for-pound (king). But if he loses to me at 155, he’s gonna be gone.”

Of course, anyone doubting Ilia Topuria’s ability to make weight probably hasn’t followed his career very closely. Back in 2020, he accepted a short-notice UFC debut while battling COVID and reportedly carrying nearly 30 extra pounds.

Despite barely being able to get out of bed, he accepted the fight, cut weight, defeated Youssef Zalal, and began what would become a legendary run that would lead him to featherweight and lightweight glory.

So while the immediate focus remains Justin Gaethje and UFC Freedom 250, Alex Pereira’s camp may have accidentally revealed something bigger. If ‘El Matador’ is truly weighing around 200 pounds these days, a switch to welterweight may not be a matter of if but when.