Ilia Topuria Steps Away for Family – UFC Creates Interim Lightweight Championship
The UFC 324 interim lightweight title fight was made official on Thanksgiving Day, and it’s a fascinating matchup that raises some serious questions about the state of the 155-pound division. Justin Gaethje takes on Paddy Pimblett for interim gold on January 24 in Vegas – the first pay-per-view under the new Paramount deal.
Dana White dropped the news during halftime of the Chiefs-Cowboys game, and the Ringside Report MMA crew broke it all down on this week’s episode.
Topuria Steps Away: Family First
Ilia Topuria released a statement earlier in the day, announcing he’s stepping away from fighting until at least Q2 2026 to address personal family matters. Dave Simon read Topuria’s statement on the show:
“I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible. I don’t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon as the matters are resolved I’ll let the UFC know I’m ready to begin my return.”
Reports indicate Topuria is dealing with a divorce and custody issues. Max Holloway responded publicly, saying he knows the struggle firsthand of trying to fight while protecting your kids.
AJ D’Alesio offered some perspective that Dave admitted he hadn’t even considered: “Family first. I tip my hat to him. I think that’s the right way to go. He’s a double champ. He’ll come back stronger. But the biggest fight right now is not to lose his family. So kudos to him, man.”
Dave’s response was characteristically honest: “I wasn’t even thinking about that. I was thinking about the division. See how focused I am. But yes, obviously good for him to put his family first.”
Fred Garcia added that Topuria had previously mentioned the possibility of fighting Islam Makhachev for a 165-pound title, noting the talk about new divisions has come back a bit.
The Interim Title Picture: Are These Really the Best Two?
With Topuria out, the UFC moved forward with Gaethje vs Pimblett for the interim lightweight championship. Dave’s early prediction? Patty the Baddy.
“I think Patty has a good shot,” Dave said. “Early prediction would be Patty the Baddy.”
Fred agreed: “Yeah, I think so. I mean, Gaethje is always tough, but I’m leaning towards Patty.”
But Fred raised an interesting point that sparked a bigger discussion about the lightweight division’s legitimacy: “I like this Gaethje versus Patty fight, but Islam vacated the title, now Topuria vacated the title, Gaethje has lost in title fights before. Does the winner really feel like a champion when the two previous champions just vacated the title? To me, Kayla versus Amanda Nunes – that’s a legit championship.”
Dave expanded on this concern: “We just saw Arman Tsarukyan looking just dominant in the main event of the Qatar show last weekend, submitting Dan Hooker in the second round, just obliterating him. It was easy work. Why isn’t this guy getting a title shot? When you look at the Patty-Gaethje fight, it’s cool and all, but are they really the two best guys at 155 pounds? I don’t think anybody would say they are.”
Fred’s assessment of the UFC’s reasoning: “They definitely went for the guys that draw. Tsarukyan, as dominant as he is, is not a big star, unfortunately.”
AJ pointed out that fighters like Waldo Cortes-Acosta have fought five times in nine months, including twice in November, suggesting the short turnaround excuse doesn’t always hold up. But Dave noted the “different level” of the interim title fight compared to a prelim bout.
UFC 324 Is Absolutely Stacked
The crew was impressed by how loaded the UFC’s Paramount debut card turned out to be.
“My God, they stacked UFC 324 because it’s the debut on Paramount for the U.S.,” Dave said.
AJ summed up the business strategy: “That’s the way you do it, man. Everybody will be able to watch this. You’ve got to go big. You’ve got to slam it no matter what. This is the time to sell. You’re coming to Paramount. There’s going to be a huge audience.”
The announced fights include:
- Main Event: Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett – Interim Lightweight Title
- Co-Main Event: Kayla Harrison (c) vs Amanda Nunes – Women’s Bantamweight Title
- Sean O’Malley vs Song Yadong
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs Deiveson Figueiredo
- Alexa Grasso vs Valentina Shevchenko
- Derrick Lewis vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta
- Arnold Allen vs Jean Silva
Johnny (in the chat) noted that the main card will start at 9 PM ET instead of 10 PM, with prelims at 5 PM. AJ relayed this to the crew: “Johnny brought up a good point. The fights now start at 9 PM, and the prelims start at 5 PM. So that means these fights are ending by midnight, which is great.”
Fred mentioned the UFC had tried earlier start times before and went back to 10 PM because of ratings. But Dave was happy about the change: “Well, I like 9 PM. I’m happy about it.”
Ian Machado Garry Makes His Case
Dave’s parlay hit last weekend with both Tsarukyan and Ian Machado Garry winning their fights. Garry’s dominant performance over Belal Muhammad had the crew talking.
“Ian Machado Garry just all over Belal Muhammad,” Dave said. “30-27, 30-27, 29-28. I wonder what that judge was seeing – which round they gave to Belal?”
Fred thought Garry won every round but admitted maybe one was close. Dave felt the fight needed more rounds: “When it was over I was like, three rounds? That’s it.”
Fred disagreed on a potential finish: “I don’t think Garry would have finished Belal. He would have kept on dominating that fight.”
Dave countered: “I think he might have finished him. He was landing good shots.”
AJ weighed in on the co-main event format: “That’s the problem with the co-main event, keeping it to three rounds. It just doesn’t give enough substance. Anything that’s co-main should always be five rounds.”
Dave pushed back: “I don’t know about that. Not every co-main event deserves five rounds. This one was pretty big though – Belal is a former champion, Ian Garry is on his way to getting a title shot.”
The Islam Makhachev Debate: Please, Anybody But Usman
This is where Dave got fired up. Ian Machado Garry would be his pick to fight Islam Makhachev next – if not for one detail.
“He would be my pick to get a title shot against Islam Makhachev next, if not for the fact that he lost to Shavkat Rakhmonov,” Dave said. “Everybody seems to forget that he lost to Shavkat, but they shouldn’t because it happened. Shavkat is undefeated. He should be the guy to fight Islam next. But the UFC? I’m pretty sure they’re going to give us Kamaru Usman.
Dave’s frustration was palpable: “Dana White doesn’t run the UFC. Ali Abdelaziz, manager of Kamaru Usman and Islam Makhachev – he runs the UFC, apparently, because that’s the fight they want. That’s the fight they’re pushing. And only those guys and that camp are interested in that fight.”
“Nobody else in the MMA world wants to see Kamaru Usman get the fight against Islam Makhachev. We know they’re buddies. There’s no bad blood. We don’t think it’s going to be a super interesting fight. The welterweight division has moved on from Kamaru Usman. You got Jack Della Maddalena, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Garry, Carlos Prates, Michael Morales – all these good fighters winning and knocking people out.”
Dave’s plea to Dana White: “All I want for Hanukkah or Christmas – whatever you want to do, I’ll take either – is that Kamaru Usman doesn’t get a title shot. Please. I don’t want him to get a title shot. It’s gonna suck. Give me Prates, Shavkat, or Ian Garry. I really don’t give a shit who it is, as long as it’s not goddamn Kamaru Usman.”
Fred admitted Dave was changing his mind: “The more you talk about it, the more I agree. At the beginning, I was OK Why not Usman? But there are so many other choices that make more sense. Starting with Shavkat – Shavkat’s the guy.”
AJ acknowledged Usman’s appeal from a business perspective: “He’s got that name, Dave, and let’s not forget that. He was there. He was a champion. Huge following.”
Dave’s counter: “He’s got a name? OK. You know who else has a name? Islam Makhachev. At this point he is a brand name in MMA. You know how you become a superstar of the sport? You beat a superstar.”
Is Islam Being Protected?
Fred made an interesting comparison: “I feel like Islam is getting the opposite of the George St-Pierre treatment. GSP, they wanted him to fight Johnny Hendricks right away. Then, when he beat Bisping for the middleweight title, they wanted him to face all the top guys right away. Whereas Islam, he’s getting all the oldies and the out-of-weight-class title contenders.”
Dave agreed: “He’s in the Jon Jones-Stipe period of his career, I think. Where the UFC is treating him like a god. Dana White says he’s the greatest thing ever. And he’s getting favorable matchups because he’s a cash cow for the company.”
“Islam hasn’t crossed that line yet where he’s told the UFC no, because the UFC wants to keep Islam happy. Right now they’re in the happy phase.”
Dave’s concern about Islam’s longevity: “Khabib retired young. Islam is almost 35. How long do you think he goes for? He’s getting to the point where he’s got nothing left to prove. He might beat Usman and just walk away as Khabib did.”
Fred’s dark prediction drew a laugh: “And after that, he could go and scam people like Khabib.”
“Exactly,” Dave replied.
What’s Next
UFC 323 closes out 2025 on December 6 with Merab Dvalishvili defending his bantamweight title against Petr Yan, plus Alexander Pantoja vs Joshua Van for the flyweight championship. The crew will be doing a watch-along.
There’s no UFC this weekend – a rare Saturday without fights. Dave noted that TKO gave the night to WWE for Survivor Series: WarGames. AJ and Dave got excited about Brock Lesnar and Logan Paul teaming up.
The show wrapped with shoutouts to the chat members, including a happy birthday to Antoinette, who has been a member for 58 months. Dave noted she’s “29 again” and thanked Angelo, Jason, Antoinette, and all the supporters at membership.ringsidereport.net.
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