- UFC. Ilia Topuria's dart to Charles Oliveira: "Here, I'm the one in charge"
- UFC. Joe Rogan reacts to wild pyramid discovery: "Underground city under Giza?"
The announcement of Ilia Topuria's (16-0) next fight is taking longer than expected. Since that "imminent announcement" that slipped out after UFC 312 in February, nothing has happened. The 'Matador' will not fight at UFC 314 in Miami, as had been rumored, nor at UFC 315 (Montreal) or UFC 316 (Newark). All fingers point to International Fight Week on June 29... but nothing is confirmed yet.
However, Dana White has taken advantage of UFC London to drop some hints about the future of the featherweight champion
"We're working on a plan for Topuria. We should have some announcements about him... a couple of weeks and we'll have some concrete plans for him," the UFC boss told 'TNT Sports' before the event at London's O2 Arena.
We're working on a plan for Topuria. We should have some announcements about him... a couple of weeks more
Ilia Topuria, meanwhile, is still waiting for Islam Makhachev (27-1)...but the Dagestani does not accept. The Spanish-Georgian has been ready for months and wants to fight for the second belt, the lightweight belt. It is the UFC that must step up and decide.
The 'Oliveira option'
The rest of the rumors point to Charles Oliveira (35-10), and things have recently heated up between the two. Although 'do Bronx' said that he was a UFC employee and would accept whatever he was told, he also said that he wants to be champion again, seek a rematch with Makhachev... and that the Topuria fight "is not a great fight" for him right now.
"Charles, you'd better not say anything. You have 10 losses: five by knockout, four by submission and one by decision. You are the contender, while I am the champion, the father of the whole division. I have not come to ask for anything. Here, I am the one in charge," Topuria replied on Twitter.