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Ilia Topuria Still Hasn’t Fully Resumed Training or Rewatched His White House Fight Against Justin Gaethje
Ilia Topuria recently revealed that he hasn’t started full training yet but expects to go all out starting January 2027.
Topuria lost his lightweight title to Justin Gaethje on June 14 at the White House. In that bout, Gaethje broke Topuria’s nose, foot, and both orbital bones, and the 29-year-old’s corner was forced to stop the fight after the fourth stanza.
“El Matador” was in a dark place after the TKO loss and took several months to recover. But he did not require surgery.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: Ilia Topuria of Spain speaks with the doctor in the Octagon against 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)
Now, Topuria has started going to the gym. However, he hasn’t started hardcore training or even contact training. During a recent interview with Fight Disciples, the Georgian-Spaniard said he expects to return to training “at 100%” from Jan. 2027 and will be back in the octagon anytime in the second quarter. He said:
“Starting in January, I’ll be able to return to training at 100% because, until now, I haven’t been able to have any physical contact… If everything goes well, I think I’ll be back in the Octagon sometime in April, May, or June.”
Check out Ilia Topuria’s comments below:
🚨Ilia Topuria says he hasn’t started full training yet and plans to begin around January. We should expect his return sometime between April and June.
“Starting in January, I’ll be able to return to training at 100% because, until now, I haven’t been able to have any physical… pic.twitter.com/iZp4V1nF9b
— MMA Pros Pick (@MMA_PROS_PICK_) November 6, 2026
Ilia Topuria still hasn’t watched his fight against Justin Gaethje
Ilia Topuria also confessed during the same sitdown that he still hasn’t watched his fight against Justin Gaethje but expects to watch it someday and note down the mistakes he made that night so that he does not repeat them. He added:
“One of the most important moments of my life, and I can’t see or breathe. It’s so weird. I don’t want to see it [ fight against Gaethje ]. For what?… Of course, I’m going to have to watch it at some point to correct the mistakes I made in that fight, but I haven’t watched it yet.”
Check out Ilia Topuria’s comments below:
Ilia Topuria says he still hasn’t watched his fight against Justin Gaethje. 👀
“One of the most important moments of my life, and I can’t see or breathe. It’s so weird. I don’t want to see it [ fight against Gaethje ]. For what?
Of course, I’m going to have to watch it at some… https://t.co/jAgf3jL8Uv pic.twitter.com/33dbnLapmZ
— MMA Pros Pick (@MMA_PROS_PICK_) November 6, 2026
The former two-division champion expects to rematch “The Highlight” soon. On his return, however, he’s highly expected to face his archrival, Paddy Pimblett, who most recently returned to winning ways at UFC 329 by submitting Benoit Saint Denis in just 52 seconds.