Months of speculation, anticipation, and guesswork just evaporated. And Ilia Topuria is right at the center of the chaos. Ever since ‘El Matador’ beat Charles Oliveira to capture the vacant lightweight title, everyone has been asking the same question: Who’s next for the Spaniard? Justin Gaethje, Paddy Pimblett, and Arman Tsarukyan have all loudly staked their claims, but the fight talk has suddenly disappeared into thin air.

The lightweight champion recently said that if he isn’t given a shot at Islam Makhachev next, he’d be open to settling his score with Pimblett. Naturally, most fans assumed that whoever he faced, it would happen in January to launch the UFC’s massive $7.7 billion deal with Paramount at UFC 324. But according to a recent report, he’s not even on the UFC 324 line

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