According to Legaspi, the UFC highly values the star potential of the 28-year-old Spanish-Georgian and is ready to give him the necessary time to resolve personal issues:
‘They are not going to take the title away from him. No matter how much time he needs, he will have it. If for some reason the interim champion has to defend the title (and everyone hopes it won’t come to that), Ilia will have the chance to do it later. The organization has shown great understanding of the situation. They truly believe in Topuria as a future megastar of the division.’
Recall that Topuria paused his career due to a personal crisis linked to a difficult divorce process. Currently, there is no official timeline for the fighter’s return or potential opponents for his first title defense.