UFC-ийн ерөнхийлөгч Дана Уайт Илиа Топуриагийн дараагийн тулааны талаар ямар нэгэн шийдвэр гараагүй байгааг мэдэгдлээ.
UFC-ийн хоёр жингийн аварга асан Илиа Топуриа зургаадугаар сард болсон тулааны үеэр Жастин Гэтжид хүнд гэмтэл авсны улмаас дөрөвдүгээр раундын дараа дасгалжуулагчдын шийдвэрээр ялагдсан билээ. Тулааны дараа хэсэг хугацаанд олны нүднээс далд байсан тэрээр саяхан сошиал хуудсаараа дамжуулан эргэн ирснээ зарласан юм. Дана Уайт түүнийг бэртлээ бүрэн эдгээж, тулалдах бүрэн боломжтой болсон гэдгийг онцолсон байна.
Одоогийн байдлаар Топуриагийн дараагийн өрсөлдөгчөөр Жастин Гэтжи эсвэл Пэдди Пимблеттийн нэрс яригдаж байна. Гэтжигийн хувьд эхний тулааны үр дүнгийн дараа дахин тулалдах сонирхол бага байгаа бол Пэдди Пимблетт сүүлийн хэдэн жилийн турш Топуриатай тулалдахыг шаардаж ирсэн юм.
Дана Уайт эдгээр хоёр хувилбар хоёулаа сонирхолтой тулаан болно гэж үзэж байна. Гэтжитэй хийх дааганы тулаан болон Пимблетттэй хийх өрсөлдөөн нь UFC-ийн хувьд аль аль нь өндөр ач холбогдолтой, үзүүштэй барилдаанууд болохыг тэрээр тэмдэглэлээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 12(Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) | Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ilia Topuria isn’t wasting any time when it comes to booking his next fight as the former two-division UFC champion seeks to bounce back from his first loss at the UFC White House card in June.
After his coaches stopped the fight following the end of the fourth round with Topuria absorbing huge amount of damage from Justin Gaethje, Topuria largely stayed in the shadows for the next few months outside of his initial Instagram post congratulating his opponent on a job well done. Topuria finally returned to social media few days ago with his latest post capped by the declaration “we are back!”
For his part, UFC CEO Dana White says the promotion has stayed in constant contact with Topuria as he recovered from a multitude of injuries suffered in that fight with Gaethje but it appears the former lightweight champion is ready to get back to work.
“Our guys are always in touch with them,” White told The Jim Rome Show. “We don’t have him on the schedule right now. Listen, Topuria’s ready to fight, we’re ready for him.”
Title or no title, Topuria remains one of the most popular and talked about athletes on the entire UFC roster but there have been rumors swirling that perhaps the UFC wants him to run it back against Gaethje sooner than later to capitalize on their epic first encounter.
Gaethje has shown little interest in giving Topuria an immediate rematch considering how the first fight ended.
There’s also a potential showdown out there for Topuria to return against Paddy Pimblett, who has been calling for that fight for the past couple of years.
White says these are all good problems to have as the UFC begins plotting what’s next for Topuria now that he’s ready to compete again.
“Both sound good to me,” White said. “They’re both great. We don’t lose with either one of those fights. They’re both great fights. Obviously the rematch with Gaethje is incredible. A Paddy Pimblett fight is amazing as bad as those two hate each other.”
