Dana White Says Ilia Topuria Is Ready to Fight Again
Dana White said Ilia Topuria is ready to fight again, and he named a Justin Gaethje rematch or a Paddy Pimblett grudge match as the two options that appeal to him most. The update matters because Topuria has not been booked since losing the lightweight title in June, and White made clear that nothing is signed.
White said the UFC has stayed in contact with the former champion and is prepared to put him back in. “We don’t have him on the schedule right now, but listen, Topuria’s ready to fight. We’re ready for him.”
That is a sharper timeline than the one that followed UFC Freedom 250. Topuria was stopped by Gaethje at the end of Round 4 on the White House South Lawn on June 14, the first loss of his career, after a corner stoppage left him with a broken nose and orbital damage.
He is 17-1 overall and 9-1 in the UFC. Before that night he had finished Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira in succession and held belts at featherweight and lightweight.
Gaethje is 28-5 and the undisputed 155-pound champion. He also said this week he will not fight again in 2026 because of a bone bruise in his knee and hands that still will not let him punch.
That gap is the problem with an immediate rematch. White likes the fight. The champion is not available this year.
Asked which matchup he prefers, White refused to pick one. “Both sound good to me. They’re both great. We don’t lose with either one of those fights.”
He then warned people not to treat the answer as a booking. “Listen, anything I say on this show, there’s going to be 100 of these goofy Instagram guys like, ‘Dana White just announced Paddy Pimblett.’ They’re both great. We don’t have anything set.”
The two names still sit at the top of the conversation. “Obviously the rematch with Gaethje is incredible. And a Paddy Pimblett fight is amazing. As bad as those two hate each other.”
The hate is not new. Topuria and Pimblett have been at each other since a 2022 fighter-hotel incident in London, and the Liverpool fighter went after Topuria again the night the title changed hands.
Pimblett went five rounds with Gaethje in January at UFC 324, then submitted Benoit Saint Denis in 52 seconds at UFC 329. He is 24-4 and 8-1 in the UFC, and he has already said he wants Topuria next.
“I’d love to smash his head in, lad, but we need to wait and see,” Pimblett said this week. “Nothing yet. No one’s spoke to me about it, so we’ll see what happens.”
A Topuria-Pimblett fight would not be for the belt. It would be the marquee lightweight bout the UFC can make while Gaethje recovers and weighs retirement.
A Gaethje rematch would put the title back on the line, but only when the champion is medically cleared. White did not give a date for either option.
The rest of the division is already moving. Arman Tsarukyan meets Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 in a fight that has been framed as a step toward the title picture. Pimblett has said that if he fights again this year, December is the window.
Topuria’s return is no longer a 2027 rumor. White put him back on the board this week and left the opponent list at two names, both unsold.
The next move belongs to the matchmakers. Until a contract is out, the former champion is ready, the UFC says it is ready, and the two fights White likes remain only the two fights he likes.