Since knocking out Max Holloway—whose actual weight class could be lightweight—Ilia Topuria has put the UFC’s 155-lb division on notice. He has also made it clear that he would love nothing more than a super fight with champion Islam Makhachev. Although this will mark Topuria’s permanent move up to lightweight, it won’t be the first time he has fought at that weight during his five-year UFC tenure. But before he gets his wish, “there is a lot of s**t going on right now,” according to Dana White, which means a shot at Makhachev isn’t a formality. Even Chael Sonnen has said that Topuria has to prove himself as a top lightweight before a match against the Dagestani becomes a reality. ‘El Matador’ is also aware that he has to earn his stripes by fighting a top contender before getting a crack at the title. The problem is, who wants to face him?

To his credit, Topuria has vacated his featherweight title to fully commit to his move to the lightweight division. Although Deigo Lopes claimed that it was UFC that forced his hand since they are no longer willing to stage champion vs champion fights, the reality is that Topuria is more than ready to take on the lightweight division. All he needs is a go-ahead from White over his first opponent on his return to the division and it looks like he might just have a challenger.

At UFC 311, Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of his fight against Makhachev and we saw Renato Moicano step up to save the day. However, this left Beneil Dariush without an opponent, having initially penciled in for a fight against the Brazilian. But ‘Benny’ is eager to find his own way and laid out a challenge for Topuria.

During a recent conversation with Submission Radio, he said, “To be honest with you bro, like no one seems to want to fight Ilia Topuria. if that’s an option. I take that fight. Bro, he’s such a great fighter. Like, what an opportunity. I’d love to fight him.” But the interviewer, Dennis Shkuratov, was not satisfied. He wanted the Iranian-American fighter to break down the approach against Ilia Topuria. if the match gets the go-ahead of those in power.

“You have to mitigate his power because he has such power in his hands. You’ve to be able to wrestle with him because he is a great grappler and then ultimately you have to be aware of his ability to change the game. Because everybody whenever they think about Ilia they think about ‘Oh boxing boxing’, but his last two fights both Holloway and Volkanovski, you know what he did? He took advantage,” Dariush explained.

Topuria managed to defeat Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in his previous last fights and both were KO wins. Well, when his opponents were worried about his boxing, the Spaniard kicked them relentlessly and forced his opponents to break their guard. That’s when he went in with his boxing and dropped Holloway and Volkanovski. Even though Holloway and ‘The Great’ were fast with their strikes, it was Topuria’s precision and power that got him the wins. 

Darius throwing his hat in the ring to face Topuria is interesting. If Ilia Topuria can take down a battle-tested veteran like Beneil Dariush, it would instantly legitimize his lightweight ambitions. But if Dariush halts Topuria’s meteoric rise, he won’t just silence the hype—he’ll put himself right back in the title hunt.

According to Dariush, Dana White should indeed pit him together against the Georgian-Spanish fighter. Talking about the challenge of facing Topuria, he added, “You have to be aware where the danger is. And I think the danger is everywhere when you fight a guy like that and, I think I am well-rounded enough to beat him. It’s just it’s going to be about the opportunity. Am I gonna get that opportunity?”

Well, that is a question for Dana White to answer and he might just go in that direction.

Last week following UFC Fight Night, White addressed Topuria’s lightweight move and confirmed that he was to relinquish his featherweight title. White said while the fighter had gone about his decision in the correct way, a shot against Makhachev wasn’t a straightforward deal.

“He said, ‘I’ve done everything I can do here, I’m ready to move up’ and he vacated it. He said, ‘I shouldn’t be holding up anybody’s opportunities.’ I respect when guys do that. There’s still other possibilities. A lot of shit going on right now, otherwise, I would have [announced his next fight otherwise],” White said.

While Ilia Topuria has a flawless 16-0 record which includes impressive wins, this won’t be his first foray into the lightweight division.  After he signed with UFC, he struggled to find fights at 145lbs and took the chance to fight Jai Herbert at lightweight at UFC London in 2022.

In the opening round, Topuria struggled due to the obvious size disadvantage and even dropped after receiving a head kick. But he managed to survive and in the next round proved his credentials as he knocked out Herbert after landing a right hand. Despite his current stature and previous experience, Chael Sonnen believes Topuria has to prove himself first.

“Ilia is vacating, and no mention of Ilia. It would look as though Ilia is going to have to do a fight first. Ilia vs. Islam right now works, (but) it’s not a massive fight. However, Ilia vs. Islam, if Ilia defeats Charles (Oliveira) first, is a complete other conversation. It can’t go right now – you’ve got to have Ilia prove that he can do it, and that either takes you through (Arman) Tsarukyan or it takes you through Charles,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.

Now the question that remains is who will Ilia Topuria face first now that Beneil Dariush has offered an option to White and Co. Well, back in October 2024, Dariush had a completely different matchup ready for the former featherweight champion.

Dariush wanted Ilia Topuria to fight Arman Tsarukyan at lightweight

Earlier in October 2024, Dariush had a brief conversation with David Schmulenson, popularly known as The Schmo. That was also the time Ilia Topuria defended his title against Max Holloway and expressed his interest in moving up for another title.

As per Dariush, Topuria should have been paired with Arman Tsarukyan. He said, “Maybe it’s Topuria [against Arman Tsarukyan]. If Ilia is coming up, that might be the fight they put together. If Ilia appears, they may stage a fight.” Well, fighting the number one contender would indeed put him closer to the lightweight title shot. 

However, Topuria wanted the championship fight against Makhachev right away. That was the only reason why he jumped to the lightweight division, didn’t he? One of the Spaniard’s close mates said on TASS, “Ilia wants a championship fight. He will not fight for the status of a contender with Tsarukyan or anyone else.” This somehow put Dariush on the sidelines, as well. So, who does he need to fight in order to prove himself worthy of the lightweight title shot?

On the other hand, there are fighters like the #2 lightweight contender Charles Oliveira, or the #3 lightweight rank holder, Justin Gaethje. Tsarukyan, who was set to fight Makhachev at UFC 311, pulled out of the bout because of his back injury. And that was the thing that cost him his title shot. Now, he has to join Topuria and compete for lightweight title contention.

Who do you think will Ilia Topuria end up fighting? Will it be Beneil Dariush, Arman Tsaruksyan, or another top lightweight? Let us know your thoughts in the comment down below.