Ilia Topuria Moved up Due to Weight Cutting

ESPN Deportes recently spoke to Ilia Topuria. The former UFC Featherweight Champion revealed that brutal weight cuts led to him moving up to 155 pounds (h/t MMAFighting).

“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.”

Topuria’s title fight against Charles Oliveira will headline UFC 317 as a part of “International Fight Week.”