Ilia Topuria Reveals UFC Return Timeline, Ideal Opponent for Defense of Lightweight Title

Ilia Topuria plans to return to UFC sometime between April and June, he said in a Friday post on social media.

Topuria added that he plans to fight the winner of the upcoming UFC 324 lightweight bout between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.

Topuria also said Friday he hopes to win Knockout of the Year in 2026.

Topuria previously said last November he would be stepping away from UFC while "going through a difficult moment in my personal life."

Gaethje and Pimblett are set to fight on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Las Vegas.

Topuria won the featherweight title with a defeat of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 289 in February 2024.

He vacated that title in order to move up and challenge Charles Oliveria for the lightweight belt at UFC 317 title fight last June.

He knocked out Oliveria in the opening round to become the first two-weight champion with an undefeated record in UFC history, per ESPN's Brett Okamoto.

That win set Topuria on track to take on Pimblett. After Topuria stepped away from the sport in November, however, the UFC scheduled next Saturday's interim title fight between Pimblett and Gaethje.

Pimblett told ESPN's James Regan in December he would still want to take on Topuria even if he wins the interim title over Gaethje.

"If he doesn't end up fighting, you never know, once I beat Justin, I could end up being like Tom Aspinall and just getting promoted to undisputed champ, but I'm going to win the belt," Pimblett told Regan in December. "If I don't have to win it and I get promoted, I'll defend the belt. If I do have to beat Ilia to win the undisputed, I will."

Topuria has also expressed interest in taking on welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. He said Friday on X that Makhachev wouldn't make him submit in a matchup "even in his dreams."