Ilia Topuria explains why he decided to stop fighting at featherweight

UFC star Ilia Topuria has explained why he’s decided to make the move from featherweight up to lightweight.

As we know, Ilia Topuria is one of the biggest fighters in mixed martial arts right now. He has already achieved some incredible things in the sport, including becoming champion, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski, and knocking out Max Holloway.

For Ilia Topuria, featherweight wasn’t enough. He now wants to shift up to 155 pounds, where he will pursue a second world title. He’ll take on Charles Oliveira for the honor at the upcoming UFC 317 pay-per-view, where he will serve as the main event of the evening.

In a recent interview, Ilia Topuria spoke candidly about why he no longer wants to compete in the featherweight division.

Ilia Topuria explains featherweight departure

“When you’re cutting weight and you can’t eat or drink water, you don’t care about any material things,” Topuria told ESPN Deportes (Spanish translation via Championship Rounds). “They can give you bags of money, they can give you all the cars you want, you don’t care at all. 

“If they give you this little glass of water and say, ‘You can drink this and it won’t increase your weight,’ I’ll give you whatever it takes in that moment. I’m so low. I feel terrible. It’s like sitting naked in the middle of the street. I feel terrible. So I didn’t want to suffer anymore. I didn’t want to go through that.

“I’d already done it throughout my career. I’d already achieved my dream, which was to become a world champion. I had to close that chapter because I didn’t want to suffer anymore. Because honestly, it’s like living in the desert and I wanted to live on the beach.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

Buckle up, folks, because ‘El Matador’ means business.