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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Ilia Topuria of Spain faces Justin Gaethje in the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Former UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria was practically unrecognizable following his UFC White House loss to Justin Gaethje, a four-round shellacking that left “El Matador” with a pair of broken orbital bones— and the first loss of his professional career.
“El Matador” was not expected to make his return until 2027; however, word from the Topuria camp suggests the former two-division titleholder could start his revenge tour as early as December.
“Day by day, he already looks like an entirely different person,” trainer Jesus Gallo told SerEbro EnlosDeportes (transcribed by Bloody Elbow). “Obviously, he still feels discomfort, but it doesn’t seem like he’s had any fights really. All the swelling in his face has gone down. All the bruising he had has gone down. To the naked eye, you can see a person who has already recovered a lot, and it has been a week and two days.”
Gaethje has a way of doing that to people.
“What the doctor told us was that within six to eight weeks, it should heal properly, especially because there was no orbital bone displacement, so it will heal on its own,” Gallo added. “After that, for him to start wrestling again, to start doing things again, it’ll take a little while for it to really solidify there. I think we’re talking about at least two to three months, easily. If you saw us in a rematch or in a fight, it would be toward the end of the year, in December. Who knows? We’ll see.”
Doesn’t sound like it will be a rematch based on these comments.
Losing to Gaethje marked the first loss of Topuria’s pro career, which “El Matador” spent primarily at 145 pounds. No word yet on whether or not the former two-division champion plans to move back down to featherweight or hang around at lightweight to get his revenge on Gaethje — assuming “The Highlight” is still around by the time Topuria is cleared to return.
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