Ilia Topuria says brother's call to stop Justin Gaethje fight saved his career

Ilia Topuria believes he may never have fought again had his brother not stopped his UFC White loss to Justin Gaethje. He fought on with both orbital bones, his nose and his foot broken.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Sat 7 Nov, 15:10 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Ilia Topuria has credited his brother with saving his career by stopping his lightweight title fight with Justin Gaethje, saying he had broken both orbital bones, his nose and his foot by the time the bout was waved off.

Gaethje won by fourth-round TKO in the main event of UFC White in June after Topuria's brother ended the fight between rounds because Topuria could not see. It was Topuria's first defeat in MMA and cost him the lightweight title. He also wants a rematch.

Topuria said he would not have asked for the fight to be stopped himself, but that he respected his brother's decision and would have done the same in his position. He said a doctor had asked him in the second or third round whether he could see, and that he could not. Speaking to One on One MMA, Topuria said: “100 percent. If he wouldn’t have stopped the fight, probably I wouldn’t be able to fight again in my life.” Topuria told ABC.es that doctors later told him fat had seeped into his orbital fracture. He said that had it gone 0.5 millimetres further, a titanium plate would have been needed and he would never have fought again, adding that this could easily have happened in a fifth round. He recalled taking a knee to the body in the fourth and wanting only to avoid being hit in the face. He said: “My eyes were burning, like someone had broken a bottle and thrown glass in them; it was a very strange sensation.” Topuria said he had not cried or been sad over the loss, despite the setting. He said: “So I was in front of the President of the United States, in front of a lot of people, in front of millions and millions of people behind the cameras, and I was almost blind.” Topuria has not fought since and plans to stay out until next year. He has said he expects to return to full training in January before deciding on a comeback date, which is likely to be in April or May.

Gaethje has spoken about retirement, but Topuria said he does not believe Gaethje will walk away without one more big payday. He said the rematch will happen at some point and pointed out that their fight was the biggest night and the largest purse of Gaethje's career.

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Ilia Topuria Justin Gaethje