Ilia Topuria’s reign as UFC featherweight champion might be a short one.

The Georgian-Spaniard fighter, unbeaten in his pro career at 16-0, won the UFC’s 145-pound title earlier this year with a decisive knockout victory against then-champ Alexander Volkanovksi before successfully defending his crown in October by becoming the first man to defeat Max Holloway by KO.

His wins over the two fighters who have dominated the featherweight fold for much of the past decade had suggested that the 27-year-old could sit atop the featherweight fold for an extended spell — but in a move that could have far-reaching ramifications for two UFC weight classes, Topuria has heavily suggested that he intends to vacate the featherweight title in order to move up to 155 in a bid to become a two-division champion.

“There were talks of Miami [next year], but I’m not sure because there are still some pending conversations,” Topuria told El Partidazo de COPE.

“We need to talk about it and take a look at my future, but for me, it’s very clear how I want to do it.”

“I’d like to move up to the next weight class, and since Islam [Makhachev] is the champion fighting in January, and he won’t be ready for April or May, I’d like to fight against the number one contender right now, who’s Charles Oliveira.”

Topuria has competed at lightweight on one occasion in his UFC career, defeating Englishman Jai Herbert by second-round knockout in March 2022. Interestingly, this was also arguably the bout in which Topuria came closest to losing in his UFC run after Herbert connected with a high kick in the first frame that dropped the now-champ.

A hypothetical bout with former 155-pound champion Charles Oliveira would make sense for a number of reasons, particularly after the Brazilian submission expert underscored his status near the summit of the division with a comprehensive decision win over Michael Chandler last month.