Dana White says Ilia Topuria returns in early 2027

Dana White says Ilia Topuria returns in early 2027. He told Jim Rome.

White would not name the opponent, because an Instagram post would claim he had booked the fight, and he said that drives him mental. White called lightweight the best division the UFC has, named Justin Gaethje, Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Paddy Pimblett, and Max Holloway at the top of it, and said the promotion is working on the bout.

Gaethje has shut down an immediate rematch, and he has not said whether he will fight again or retire. Topuria’s camp has pushed for that rematch. Pimblett has called for a grudge match on The Ultimate Fighter, and that rivalry dates to 2022.

Topuria is 29 and 17-1, No. 1 at lightweight and No. 5 pound-for-pound, and he is 67 inches (170 cm) and 155 pounds (70 kg), with a 69-inch (175 cm) reach and a 37-inch (94 cm) leg reach. Seven of the wins are knockouts, eight are submissions, and two are decisions, with 10 first-round finishes, four second-round finishes, and one third-round finish.

The UFC header marks Topuria vs. Gaethje on June 14, 2026, a win. The history says Gaethje stopped Topuria by corner stoppage at 5:00 of the fourth round at UFC Freedom 250, Topuria lost the lightweight title, and the corner pulled him out on the stool after two broken orbital bones, a cracked septum, and a shattered foot.

Topuria knocked Oliveira out at 2:27 of the first round at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025, and won the lightweight title, and he knocked Max Holloway out at 1:34 of the third round at UFC 308. The fight list dates the Holloway bout October 26, 2024, and the history dates it October 30, 2024, and that win retained the featherweight title. The fighter facts say he vacated that belt in April 2025 to fight for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317. The UFC history says he vacated it in February 2025.

He knocked Alexander Volkanovski out at 3:32 of the second round at UFC 298 on February 17, 2024, and won the featherweight title, won a five-round unanimous decision over Josh Emmett at UFC on ABC on June 24, 2023, and submitted Bryce Mitchell with an arm-triangle choke at 3:10 of the second round at UFC 282 on December 10, 2022.

He knocked Jai Herbert out at 1:07 of the second round on March 19, 2022, knocked Ryan Hall out at 4:47 of the first round at UFC 264 on July 10, 2021, knocked Damon Jackson out at 2:38 of the first round on December 5, 2020, and won a three-round unanimous decision over Youssef Zalal on October 10, 2020, in his Octagon debut.

Topuria lands 4.82 significant strikes per minute and absorbs 3.97, hitting 50 percent of 1,002 attempts for 502 strikes, and he defends 62 percent. Standing accounts for 387 of them (77 percent), the clinch 34 (7 percent), and the ground 81 (16 percent), and 343 (68 percent) land to the head, 106 (21 percent) to the body, and 53 (11 percent) to the leg.

He averages 1.73 takedowns per 15 minutes at 24 percent, five of 21 attempts, defends 95 percent of takedowns, and averages 0.86 submission attempts and 1.15 knockdowns per 15 minutes, with an average fight time of 10 minutes and 26 seconds.

The UFC lists his hometown as Germany, and he trains at Team Topuria. Yahoo calls him Spanish and says he moved from Miami back to Georgia, where he has trained his striking with Lasha Guruli and visited the Didgori Battle Memorial on Mount Didgori.

He started jiu-jitsu at four because his father put him in it, worked as a cashier at Stradivarius before he fought, won the Arnold Fighter tournament, placed second in Europe in youth jiu-jitsu, and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The Cage Warriors bantamweight title fight ended in less than two minutes, and he missed weight, so he did not get the belt. The pro career started in 2015.

Topuria wrote on Instagram that he had returned to the place where it all began and that the Matador returns.