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\u201cEl Matador\u201d is ready to return.<\/p>\n
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria<\/strong> has been sidelined since suffering his first professional loss against Justin Gaethje<\/strong> at UFC Freedom 250 this past June (watch highlights).<\/p>\n According to UFC CEO Dana White<\/strong>, Topuria is now prepared to begin plotting his comeback.<\/p>\n \u201cOur guys are always in touch with him \u2014 we don\u2019t have him on the schedule right now, but Topuria is ready to fight, and we\u2019re ready for him,\u201d White told Jim Rome.<\/p>\n Rome then asked what\u2019s more likely: a rematch with Gaethje or a massive fight with rival Paddy Pimblett<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth sound good to me,\u201d White said. \u201cThey\u2019re both great. We don\u2019t lose with either one of those fights. They are both great fights; I don\u2019t know. Obviously the rematch with Gaethje is incredible. A Paddy Pimblett fight is amazing \u2014 as bad as those two hate each other.\u201d<\/p>\n An immediate championship rematch with Gaethje, however, makes considerably less sense.<\/p>\n Topuria did not have a successful Lightweight title defense before losing the belt, and the first fight was not remotely controversial. Gaethje battered the previously undefeated champion for four rounds and has already insisted Topuria must earn another title shot, arguing that Arman Tsarukyan<\/strong> is more deserving.<\/p>\n