Ilia Topuria’s next UFC fight “has been decided,” according to a Yardbarker headline published November 8. The headline doesn’t name an opponent. Topuria has been naming one himself all week. “I’m coming back in April. Paddy, Paddy, Paddy,” he said in comments posted by FightLuck on X on November 5. That was as subtle as a spinning back fist.
It’s a loud plan for a man coming off a loss. Topuria lost to Justin Gaethje, and the first interview he did afterward, shared by Championship Rounds via journalist Kike Olmenero (@KOlmeneroMMA), came with a defiant line: “The fire inside me is even bigger now.”
The way that fight ended still sits with him. Topuria said his brother stopped the bout, and he isn’t bitter about it. In comments relayed by Championship Rounds via Adam Catterall, he said: “If he wouldn’t stop the fight, probably I wouldn’t be able to fight again in my life. I’m so grateful with my brother.”
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Some of his other comments were darker. “I’ve faced the worst day of my job. What’s worse? Dying?” he said in the same FightLuck clip, then floated a much bigger idea: “I’ve achieved everything, and after this fight, what else? Maybe I’ll even retire.”
Gaethje gets no vote
Topuria has no interest in letting the man who beat him shape his next move. Speaking to Spain’s ABC (via Championship Rounds and Olmenero), he dismissed Gaethje completely: “He won’t have any say in absolutely anything. He doesn’t call any shots. This is between the UFC and me.”
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He went further. “Justin is a nobody,” Topuria said, before laying out a card where a Paddy fight headlines and Gaethje, even as champion, slides down to the co-main event. “Who could you match him with that would be bigger than my fight with Paddy?” he asked.
He was much warmer about the featherweight he’s already beaten. In the same ABC interview, Topuria called Alexander Volkanovski the best featherweight ever and said he doesn’t want a rematch because he’s grown 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 also listed his own wins: “Yes, I beat him. I beat Max Holloway. I did things nobody else had done.” Then he gave the credit back to Volkanovski, saying Volk’s record over the years beats his own.
No opponent, card, or venue has been officially announced. Every hint so far points to April and to Paddy.
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Quick take: Give his brother credit first. I’ve watched too many corners let a fighter take extra punishment out of loyalty, and Topuria saying he might never have fought again without that stoppage is the strongest case for throwing the towel you’ll hear this year. As for the rest, calling the guy who just beat you “a nobody” and putting him in the co-main takes some nerve. If the UFC really has decided, Topuria will need a sharp, healthy April performance to make that trash talk hold up.
