Dana White: "Ilia Topuria will return in early 2027"
"The Matador" still has no fight announced
If Ilia Topuria (17-1) had already announced that he was back, now it has been the UFC that has confirmed, through Dana White, that the return of the "Matador" should take place at the beginning of 2027. The former lightweight champion and also ruler of the featherweight division is still recovering from his defeat to Justin Gaethje (28-5) at UFC Casa Blanca, but work is already underway on his return.
"In 2027. He will return in early 2027, we're working on that," Dana White confirmed in an interview on Jim Rome's show when asked about Ilia Topuria.
He will return in early 2027, we are working on that
The UFC "boss" confirmed that he is tremendously excited about the future of the lightweight division, calling it the toughest in the entire UFC, and mentioning names such as Gaethje, Topuria himself, Tsarukyan, Oliveira, Pimblett, or Max Holloway.
Meanwhile, Ilia remains in Georgia, where he has already been for more than a month completing his recovery. "I returned to the place where it all began. Not to relive the past, but to remember. The Matador returns," he wrote these days on his Instagram account.
I returned to the place where it all began. Not to reminisce about the past, but to remember
It remains to be seen, however, how "precise" Dana White's words are... because a Topuria return in January is already impossible (UFC 336 has been announced, and he's not on it), and with "early 2027" the window is quite broad. As we already mentioned in MARCA, everything points to a date after the month of March.
