It seems like another fighter joined the bandwagon with Charles Oliveira expressing his skepticism towards former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria‘s move to the lightweight division. He’s not the first 155fer to do that, but ‘El Matador’ seems to have had it. The Georgian-Spaniard decided to launch a few words in response to Oliveira while putting Islam Makhachev on alert.

Paddy Pimblett was the first fighter who expressed confusion over Ilia Topuria’s decision to jump to the lightweight division. “He’s a midget, lad. He’s not a lightweight,” ‘The Baddy’ stated during a recent interview. Similarly, Charles Oliveira also doesn’t see ‘El Matador’ having much success in the 155-pound category, claiming his “power” and his “jiu-jitsu” will get the better of the outgoing featherweight champion.

Unsurprisingly, Ilia Topuria clapped back, like he usually does. The Georgian-Spaniard claims to be on a different level than Charles Oliveira, as he wrote, “Charles, it’s better if you stay quiet. You have 10 losses: 5 by knockout, 4 by submission, and 1 by decision,” on X, flaunting his squeaky clean record. After all, the 26-year-old has yet to lose a single fight in his professional career.

It was then the outgoing featherweight champion boldly claimed to be the biggest threat in the lightweight division, undermining Islam Makhachev’s status as champion. “You are the contender, while I am the champion, the father of the entire division. I haven’t come here to ask anything. Here, I am the one in charge.” Topuria added.

While we wait to see how Islam Makhachev responds to this statement, there’s no doubt that Ilia Topuria is getting really serious about his lightweight journey because he’s starting to make some changes. One of those changes includes his nickname as well. Here’s what the outgoing featherweight champion had to say.

Ilia Topuria drops his ‘El Matador’ nickname

Ilia Topuria is planning to present a totally new version of himself when he officially makes the jump to lightweight. As long as fans remember. the moniker ‘El Matador’ has always been associated with him, but as he waits for his maiden 155-pound bout, the Georgian-Spaniard has decided to get rid of the nickname altogether. He claims to be marking a ‘new era’ for himself in a way that we see happen mostly in WWE.

“El Matador’ has been my ally in every fight. But next time, I’ll step into the Octagon with a new identity,” Ilia Topuria recently tweeted. Now, what does this new persona mean and how will be different from his current one? Well, those questions will be answered when Dana White and Co. hand him his first lightweight opponent in the coming months.

Besides that, Ilia Topuria appears to be unfazed by the fighters underestimating him as a lightweight fighter and is confident in making his mark in this division just like he did in his previous one, knocking out two of the greatest 145fers ever. Meanwhile, what do you think about Topuria’s bold claim in response to Charles Oliveira? Drop your comments below.