Ilia Topuria recently expressed his intention to move up to welterweight and challenge Islam Makhachev should the Dagestani dethrone Jack Della Maddalena and become UFC welterweight champion. Topuria is still very much interested in fighting Makhachev and wouldn’t be fazed by the weight it’s contested at.

Topuria and Makhachev have been involved in an ongoing feud after the latter decided to move up to 170-pounds in favor of challenging new champion Della Maddalena rather than defend his lightweight title against ‘El Matador.’ As a result, UFC CEO Dana White booked a vacant lightweight title fight to serve as the UFC 317 main event, which will see Charles Oliveira take on Topuria.

MMA Junkie recently posted a clip from Topuria’s media availability for his open workout, which showed him confirming his plans to move up to welterweight if things go as planned for him and Makhachev in their upcoming outings. ‘El Matador’ said:

“We’ll see how [Makhachev] does in the welterweight division. If he wins the title, I win the title in the lightweight division, maybe I move up or he comes down to the lightweight division and we have the fight that everybody wants to see… If Islam becomes the welterweight world champion, for sure I’m going to push for that shot also and I will move to the welterweight division.”

Check out Ilia Topuria‘s comments below:

Meanwhile, Makhachev has reaffirmed his desire to become a double champion, which potentially hints at him capturing the 170-pound throne by dethroning ‘JDM’ later this year and then moving back to lightweight to fight the Georgian-Spaniard, provided Topuria becomes the new lightweight champion.

Ilia Topuria vows to finish Charles Oliveira in first round at UFC 317

Ilia Topuria also promised to finish Charles Oliveira in spectacular fashion at UFC 317, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena next Saturday.

Championship Rounds posted a clip from the aforementioned availability, which showed Topuria expressing his confidence and mentioning that he will finish Oliveira in the first round to capture the vacant lightweight championship. He said:

“I can knock [Oliveira] out, I can submit him, whatever. The only thing I know for sure is that I’m gonna knock him out in the first round or submit him in the first round because he walks forward. I’m not gonna need to close the distance with him since the first moment, we are going to find each other in the center of the octagon. So yeah, it’s gonna be a first round finish.”

Check out Championship Rounds’ post featuring Ilia Topuria’s comments below: