Ilia Topuria Walks Away From Featherweight: Why 145 Is No Longer Worth It
If you’ve followed Ilia Topuria’s rise in the UFC, you know the guy is a beast — undefeated at featherweight, knocking out former champs, crowned Fighter of the Year in 2024. So when he announced he was vacating his title and moving up to lightweight, the reaction was a mix of shock and confusion. Why walk away from a championship belt, from pay-per-view glory, from everything fighters spend their lives chasing — just to avoid cutting ten pounds?
Well, if you ask Topuria, the answer’s simple: because it was miserable. Not just inconvenient or uncomfortable, but a real physical and mental grind that was draining the joy out of the sport for him. He described it in brutal terms, saying the process made him hate the very thing he loves — fighting. And when a fighter starts dreading the process instead of focusing on preparation and performance, something’s got to give.
Topuria’s story isn’t new. Retired UFC veteran Kenny Florian heard Topuria’s reasoning and immediately understood — because he’d been through the exact same nightmare. Florian shared how cutting to 145 pounds was not just about diet tweaks; it was a full-on lifestyle overhaul that made everything else — training, recovery, strategy — secondary. Instead of training to beat an opponent, he was training just to survive the scale.
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He dropped 35 pounds, restricted calories to near-starvation levels, and trained three times a day. The result? Yeah, he made weight. He even won. But it came at the cost of his health, his sanity, and later, his thyroid function. Florian now takes daily medication, and he’s not shy about blaming those hellish weight cuts.
That’s why Topuria’s decision hits differently. It’s not a weakness. It’s not fear. It’s self-preservation. He sat down with UFC brass and told them point blank: this isn’t about a second title; this is about longevity, about quality of life, about being able to walk away from the sport one day without feeling broken. That kind of clarity takes maturity — and guts.
Now he’s heading into UFC 317 to fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title. And sure, there are questions. Can Topuria’s power translate at 155? Will he hold up against bigger guys? No one knows for sure. But here’s what we do know: for the first time in a long time, Ilia Topuria is happy during fight week. He’s eating. He’s drinking. He’s training with focus, not just desperation. And that could make him even more dangerous.
Whether he wins or not, Topuria is already setting an example that may change how fighters think about weight cuts. Because chasing greatness shouldn't mean sacrificing your well-being — and for Topuria, greatness is still well within reach.
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