Ilia Topuria on his first loss to Justin Gaethje: 'What's worse than that? Dying'

The former UFC lightweight champion told Spain's ABC that some mornings he looks in the mirror and thinks "this isn't me" after the defeat at the White House.

Ilia Topuria has said the first loss of his career put him in "the worst situation a fighter can be in", and that only dying could be worse.

"I've seen the worst day of my career. What's worse than that? Dying," Topuria said in a video interview with Spain's ABC, speaking in Spanish.

"It's a question I've had to face over the last 5 or 6 months. But one thing is clear: either you win or you lose. And I lost," he said.

"Sometimes I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, and it was like: no, no, no, no, no, this isn't me," he added.

Justin Gaethje beat Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House in June to win the undisputed lightweight title. In an essay on his official website, Topuria wrote that he left that night with both orbital bones fractured, his septum broken and his foot broken.

He described the mirror in that essay too. "I remember waking up and looking at myself in the mirror. For a few seconds, I did not recognize the face staring back at me. I thought, 'This can't be. This can't be me,'" he wrote. He also wrote that "one night cannot erase a life".

Topuria is 17-1 and has not fought since. Dana White has said Topuria will come back in early 2027, with no opponent named.

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