Ilia Topuria hints at Justin Gaethje rematch

Topuria returns to full training after receiving medical clearance

Ilia Topuria is fully fit again and recently announced that all medical exams have been completed and that he has received clearance to return. All of this comes three months after his loss to Justin Gaethje.

With this announcement, he naturally hinted directly at a fight, specifically, a rematch with Justin Gaethje. Justin Gaethje was on the verge of an early loss in the second round but weathered that difficult spell and went on to inflict significant damage on Ilia Topuria as the fight progressed. After the fourth round, Ilia Topuria’s corner finally called for the fight to be stopped because their fighter really wasn’t looking good anymore. However, as mentioned earlier, he has now finally announced his return on social media. On X, he wrote:

“Final medical tests done. I’m back. To all the clowns who’ve been talking sh*t and counting me out this whole time, here I am. Now let’s see who’s got the balls. Thanks to everyone for the support. Next time I’ll make sure they check Justin’s gloves so he doesn’t put anything weird on them. See you soon”

There’s a lot of talk right now about a rematch between the two. The lightweight division is relatively wide open. Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway, and Paddy Pimblett are all coming off wins and want a rematch with Justin Gaethje. It remains to be seen who it will ultimately be.

I hope it isn’t Ilia Topuria right away because I think he’ll be risking his career with that fight. I think he should look for a different matchup first. But I can also imagine that the UFC might hint at a direct rematch between the two because of the reach difference.