UFC fans are up in arms following Dana White and Co’s potentially major decision on the future of Ilia Topuria.
‘El Matador’ hasn’t fought since being left brutally disfigured by Justin Gaethje in the UFC‘s historic White House card in June.
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Topuria, 29, suffered a fourth-round TKO defeat in the shadow of the Oval Office and lost his grip on the lightweight title.
The Georgian-born Spaniard’s next move has been the talk of MMA fans since that fateful night at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
And this past weekend, it’s emerged the fan favourite could be in line for an immediate rematch with ‘The Highlight’.
The UFC’s long-time play-by-play commentator Jon Anik recently revealed the promotion has held “internal conversations” about running things back between the pair.
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News of the potential rematch stunned mixed martial arts fans, many of whom took to social media to express their dismay at the potential booking.
One wrote on X: “That’s dumb. He quit on the stool. His face was broken in multiple places. No rematch needed.”
Another said: “Would be a disgrace. Topuria needs to win another fight before any rematch.”
And another said: “Disgraceful matchmaking is the order of the day.”
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One remarked: “He has no title defenses so why does he deserve an immediate rematch? He should fight a contender first.”
Another chimed in: “I knew the UFC would force this rematch and I have a feeling Justin doesn’t want to do it, so he might retire.”
Several UFC fans, however, were all in on the idea of the duo running back their epic Presidential punch-up.
One wrote: “The former double champ deserves it 🌹”
Another said: “The last fight was so back and forth this would be epic to see.”
And another said: “This is what should happen.”
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News of a potential rematch between Topuria and Gaethje came just days after the former broke his months-long social media silence.
And a day after dropping a video in which he read a letter to his son, Hugo, Topuria issued a lengthy statement on his website reflecting on his defeat to Gaethje.
A snippet of it read: ” I believe in God’s will. I have always said that if God ever ruins my plans, perhaps it is because those plans could have ruined me.
“It was very easy to repeat that when everything was going well. Now I had to live it. And I accepted it.
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“Maybe that, too, was meant to be part of my story. Maybe I needed that experience to discover a version of myself I had not yet met.
“I had won 17 times and one night went wrong, but one night cannot erase a life.”