Daniel Cormier believes Ilia Topuria is on a similar trajectory as Jon Jones, outgrowing his current division after running through the top contenders. Just as Jones made his mark in the light heavyweight division by defeating legends like Rashad Evans, Alexander Gustafsson, and Cormier himself, only to lose interest when the challenges began to feel repetitive, Topuria is at a similar crossroads in the featherweight division.
Topuria has already conquered two of the greatest featherweights in UFC history and has claimed that the world has seen the last of him at featherweight.
According to Cormier, the undefeated Spaniard’s move to the lightweight division is because the likes of Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, and Islam Makhachev among others would provide better fodder to fuel his ambitions of greatness.
“I just think that, for him, it might feel like the challenges aren’t as great as the ones he had to go through in order to become a champion.”
DC also believes that this isn’t just a case of Topuria outgrowing his division, it’s a sign of the evolution of a fighter looking to make his mark on the bigger stage. It’s what Jones has tried to do since his move to heavyweight. And he’s had some success at it too.
Although until he fights and wins against Tom Aspinall, his status as the heavyweight champion remains ‘disputed’, Jones has still managed to dominate the division.
Now, the question of whether Topuria replicates Jones’ success at a new weight remains to be seen, but the potential for fireworks in the 155-pound division is certainly there. Besides, Topuria’s ambition extends beyond the UFC. Already a superstar in Spain, the featherweight champion wants to extend his celebrityhood beyond that of the octagon.
In an interview with El Partidazo de COPE, El Matador revealed his plans for the future and when he wanted to retire,
“‘I’m 27, I hope to be out by 30. Right now, in my division, I no longer have the motivation to defend the belt anymore. Now I want to move up a category and we’ll see how everything goes.”
However, as the OG UFC superstar, who broke out of the MMA bubble, Conor McGregor just had to brag!
McGregor re-living glory days
McGregor, never one to shy away from a bold statement, responded to Topuria’s comments in a now-deleted post on Twitter. He claimed that by the time he was 27, he had already done everything in the sport,
“‘Here’s the truth that will hurt all the little wannabe nobodies. Fighting was too easy for me, I done it all by 27 years old.”
Conor McGregor responds to Ilia Topuria’s claim that he plans to retire at 30:
“Fighting was too easy for me, I done it all by 27 years old” (via.@TheNotoriousMMA) pic.twitter.com/5u1ngiVc5c
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 10, 2024
To be fair to McGregor, he isn’t wrong. By 27 years old he was the most recognized MMA fighter in the world and among the highest-paid athletes in the world. He had also achieved double champ status and looked near invincible inside the octagon.
However, Topuria will look to avoid following his example.
Because everything that has happened since hasn’t been ideal. Multiple brush-ups with the law, cases of assault, and hate speech… there’s a long list of everything Topuria will not want to be associated with him.
