Conor McGregor was quick to praise Ilia Topuria after UFC 317 – and equally quick to backtrack.
On Saturday (28 June), Topuria knocked Charles Oliveira out cold in round one, winning the vacant lightweight title. That triumph made the Spanish-Georgian a two-weight UFC champion, after he held the featherweight belt from February 2024 until February 2025.
In winning the lightweight title after collecting the featherweight strap, Topuria emulated McGregor, although not precisely; McGregor did the same but still held the 145lb gold by the time he won the 155lb version, whereas Topuria vacated the featherweight crown before moving up in weight.
As such, McGregor’s feat made him the first simultaneous two-weight champion in UFC history, and there have only been three since. Meanwhile, Topuria joins a larger but still elite club of UFC fighters to have held titles at two weights but not simultaneously.
In any case, McGregor never defended either of his titles, and he was stripped of both due to inactivity as he crossed into boxing to fight Floyd Mayweather in 2017. In contrast, Topuria defended and retained the featherweight title in October, knocking out former champion Max Holloway – one of McGregor’s old opponents.
After Topuria beat another ex-champion at UFC 317, starching Oliveira, McGregor offered praise – despite Topuria’s longstanding criticism of the 36-year-old’s behaviour outside of the cage.
“Congrats on winning my old titles, illia!” tweeted McGregor. “He said he gonna rest his b**** on paddy[’s] head too hahah fair play. Good LW [lightweight] scrap that one is as well imo [in my opinion].
“UFC is back? Or still missing something.. ? 3 ko’s back to back is very good. No one can deny the knockout. I like [Topuria].”
Within that tweet, which McGregor soon deleted, the Irishman referenced Paddy Pimblett, who faced off with Topuria in the cage after Saturday’s main event.
“Paddy The Baddy” and Topuria have held a mutual grudge since 2022, when the latter confronted the Liverpudlian over seemingly anti-Georgian tweets. Topuria did so at the fighter hotel ahead of UFC London, where both men won their respective bouts.
With the unbeaten Topuria now reigning at lightweight, where Pimblett has crafted a strong run in recent bouts, a fight between the old rivals is finally on the cards.
And Pimblett, 30, entered the cage at UFC 317 after an invitation from commentator Joe Rogan, confronting Topuria and vowing to take the title from the 28-year-old.