Ilia Topuria has a window now, if not yet an opponent. Dana White said on Jim Rome’s show this week that the UFC is building Topuria’s return fight and expects it to land in early 2027.
“He’ll come back in early 2027. We’re working on that,” White said, in a clip shared by Championship Rounds on X.
That’s the whole of the official update. White didn’t name an opponent, a weight class or an event in the clip, which leaves the matchmaking to the loudest person in the conversation. That person, predictably, is Topuria.
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In an interview with Spanish outlet ABC, also circulated by Championship Rounds, Topuria went after Justin Gaethje with the kind of bluntness that’s become his trademark. He said Gaethje “won’t have any say in absolutely anything” and framed his future as a private negotiation between himself and the promotion.
“This is between the UFC and me. Whatever we decide, whatever’s best for us, that’s what Justin will do,” Topuria said. Then he went further: “Justin is a nobody.”
His argument was about the marquee. Topuria floated a fight with Paddy and said Gaethje, “even as the champion,” would be stuck in the co-main event under it. “Who could you match him with that would be bigger than my fight with Paddy?” he asked. It’s a pure ticket-sales pitch, and Topuria clearly believes his name sells more than any belt does.
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The same interview had a much softer side. Asked about Alexander Volkanovski, the man he beat, Topuria called him the best featherweight ever and said he doesn’t want a rematch, mostly because he’s gotten too fond of him.
“Honestly, I respect him so much and I’ve grown so fond of him that I couldn’t hit him,” he said. He allowed that a second fight “would be a very competitive fight” and added, “Just because I beat him once doesn’t mean he can’t beat me.”
He also gave a fair accounting of his own résumé next to Volkanovski’s. “Yes, I beat him. I beat Max Holloway. I did things nobody else had done,” Topuria said. “But looking at his record over all those years, he’s accomplished much more than I have.”
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One aside from the same Rome appearance is worth keeping in mind as Topuria talks about who decides what. White admitted he’d given Josh Hokit some rough assignments over things Hokit said. “I didn’t like some of the things he said, so I might’ve threw some tough guys at him,” White said. He laughed when he said it, but it was still a confession that the boss holds grudges and the matchmaking sheet is where he settles them.
My take: Topuria has earned the right to talk like a headliner, because beating Volkanovski and Holloway is a body of work, not hype. Calling Gaethje a nobody is a different matter. Gaethje has spent years in some of the most brutal fights the UFC has ever booked, and dismissing him is the cheap part of an otherwise sharp interview. The more revealing line was the one about Volkanovski, where Topuria sounded like a fighter who understands the difference between winning a fight and building a career. He’s got until early 2027 to show which version of himself he really is.
