Ilia Topuria appears to have called for a major change in the UFC. Fight fans quickly chimed in with their reactions to Topuria’s demand.
The Georgian-Spaniard is a former UFC featherweight champion. He vacated the title earlier this year and is now moving up in weight in pursuit of the UFC lightweight championship.
His calls for a major change to weight classes were met with mixed reactions.
Ilia Topuria’s Demand Sparks Various Reactions from MMA Fans
Topuria appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast this month and spoke with veteran UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.
On episode #166 of the “JRE MMA Show,” Rogan noted that he’s previously asked UFC executives to consider adding more weight classes to reduce extreme weight-cutting and allow fighters to compete closer to their natural weight.
“They’re too big. The gaps are too big. 20 pounds is nuts,” Rogan said.
Topuria agreed and pushed the conversation further. He suggested that fighters should be weight-tested alongside drug testing. According to Topuria, if a fighter’s walkaround weight is significantly above their current weight class limit, they should be forced to move up a division.
“I will do something with the drug test, like, if I go to your home to make the drug test, I put you in the scale. If you walk around like eight percent or 10 percent over your weight, I would obligate you to go in the next weight class.
“Just to give you an example — if you’re fighting at 100 kilograms, and I go to your house, I do the drug test, I put you on the scale, and your weight is 110 kilograms, I will force you to go to the next weight class.”
Watch their conversation below:
Fight fans had mixed reactions to Topuria’s proposal. Some accused him of being hypocritical, pointing to his own past weight cuts. One user wrote, “So they should revoke his entire career?”
Another fan added, “Ilia was a massive weight bully at FW, very hypocritical to say.”
Others supported his take. One said, “I agree but won’t happen.”
Another fan who was also in support of Topuria’s proposal added, “I agree with him on this.”
Another sympathetic commenter pointed out the difficulty in making the idea a reality, asserting: “This is obvious but good luck enforcing it.”
One observer, perhaps reminding everyone of the most important real-life aspect of the change, tweeted: “Agreed. It would greatly improve fighter health.”