Can Ilia Topuria do everything left on his UFC to-do list by 30?

LAS VEGAS -- Six months ago, shortly before he agreed to vacate the UFC's featherweight championship, Ilia Topuria made a shocking declaration.

"I'm 27 [years old], and I hope to be out by 30," Topuria said in Spanish on the El Partidazo de COPE podcast.

Topuria (16-0), now 28, is competing at the highest level in the world (currently ranked No. 2 on ESPN's pound-for-pound list) and is fast-becoming one of the sport's biggest stars. Retirement would seem to be the furthest thing from his mind.

And it is.

Topuria, who will look to become a two-weight champion on Saturday when he faces Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title at UFC 317 in Las Vegas (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV; prelims beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+/Disney+), said this week that those retirement comments from December were heavily influenced by the drastic amount of weight he had to cut to make the featherweight limit of 145 pounds.

"I was struggling a lot with the weight cut and it was making me start to hate the entire sport," Topuria told ESPN. "So yeah, I've changed my mind on that. Those [extra] 10 pounds gave me life."

But when pressed to look into the future of his career, Topuria and his team are quick to say there still might be only a couple of years left. The difference between now and six months ago is that it has nothing to do with weight and everything to do with opportunity. Topuria, one of only two fighters under 30 on ESPN's pound-for-pound list, has been so good and so ambitious at a young age, there isn't that much left for him to chase if he's successful at UFC 317.

As a sort of fun, sort of serious exercise, ESPN asked Topuria to map out his ideal career path through January 2027, the month in which he'll turn 30. Here are some of the fights and other things he is looking toward.

Paddy Pimblett in Las Vegas

If Topuria makes good on the prediction he made earlier this week to finish Oliveira in the first round on Saturday, don't be surprised if the name "Paddy Pimblett" comes up pretty quickly.

The two have history, dating back to 2021. Topuria, who lives in Spain but is of Georgian descent, took offense to comments Pimblett made about the Russo-Georgian War of 2008. Topuria and Pimblett happened to appear on the same card in March 2022 and nearly came to blows at the UFC's host hotel in London. The rivalry went dormant for some time after that, as the two weren't in the same weight class, but after Pimblett overwhelmed Michael Chandler at UFC 314 and now that Topuria has entered the lightweight fray, it is an obvious fight to make.

But Topuria does think Pimblett needs to win one more time before he gets a title fight opportunity.

"In a perfect world? Paddy would get a win and then we would fight," Topuria said. "Of course, I would finish him, but I would enjoy that fight, because that's one of those where you have two guys that really want to fight with each other. And I would enjoy myself in that because in reality, I see him as a very, very bad fighter. I know I can dominate him everywhere."

Pimblett, of Liverpool, England, is ranked No. 8 at lightweight and has become one of the biggest, most-hyped names in the division. Topuria's manager, Jose Diaz, sees the matchup as not only Topuria's first title defense but as the one that would catapult his fighter to UFC superstardom.

"Hopefully the UFC would see it in the same way they saw Conor McGregor versus José Aldo, and do the world tour press conferences," Diaz said. "And we'd see a different side of Ilia ahead of that. He's always very professional, but people would really see the fun side of Ilia for that one. "

Despite Topuria's belief that Pimblett is severely overrated, his brother and coach, Aleksandre Topuria, said the team would never take a ranked UFC fighter lightly and would be well prepared for the bout -- even if some of the gamesmanship suggested otherwise.

"Every time we step inside the Octagon, it doesn't matter who is in front of us, we prepare like it's the last fight of our lives," Aleksandre said. "Paddy is very comfortable at 155 pounds, and the most important thing is you can't fall into his mental, emotional game beforehand. Fortunately, Ilia is very good at this. Even if you think Ilia is angry, just know that he knows how to play this game, too."

Now that Topura isn't cutting as much weight, he said he doesn't expect to need as much time between fights as he did at featherweight. That said, he does believe a fight like this could take place in only one location: Las Vegas. That would almost certainly place Topuria vs. Pimblett for the lightweight title in December.

Islam Makhachev in Madrid

This would certainly be one of the biggest fights in UFC history -- and if everything were to fall correctly, it would have a shot to be the biggest of all time.

Like Topuria, Makhachev has agreed to vacate his title in order to move up in weight. The soon-to-be-former lightweight champion is expected to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight belt later this year. If Makhachev wins, Topuria already has stated he would want to chase Makhachev up to 170 pounds and attempt to become the first to capture belts in three UFC weight classes.

"The dream is that Islam becomes welterweight world champion and the UFC calls me to say they want me to move up," Topuria said.

In addition to Topuria attempting to make history, this matchup would likely pit the Nos. 1 and 2 pound-for-pound fighters in the world against one another. Both have massive followings -- particularly in Europe and West Asia. Makhachev has more than formed his own identity, but his close proximity to lifelong teammate and former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov always adds intrigue to his fight weeks.

Neither Topuria nor Makhachev is known for "trash talk," but they already have traded public shots at one another as a potential meeting has become more likely.

"For sure, we are not going to be kind with each other," Topuria said. "That's for sure. I think for that fight, they could create another belt and we could fight for the pound-for-pound belt. The PFP."

Stylistically, it would be an incredibly difficult fight for Topuria at 170 pounds -- and he undoubtedly would be the biggest underdog of his entire career. But his finishing ability and confidence, especially if he were coming off two lightweight wins against Oliveira and Pimblett, would give him a strong chance in the eyes of the public.

"Would I like to see Ilia compete at welterweight? Obviously, the answer to that is 'no,'" Aleksandre said. "But would we take the chance to fight at welterweight for the belt? For sure. Who wouldn't take this chance?

"For Ilia to win that fight, he just needs to be himself. There is no secret key to winning that fight. Stylistically, we know how good we are, how strong mentally we are. He would just need to keep doing what he's been doing."

Topuria vs. Makhachev would be massive anywhere in the world, but it would be perfect for the UFC's first appearance in Spain. Topuria has expressed interest in filling Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu Stadium -- which holds more than 80,000 -- for a fight, and understandably said this would be the one he'd want.

"Spain, I picture that in Spain," said Topuria, who has lived in the Mediterranean port city of Alicante since he was a teen. "One fight. I really want to do at least one fight in Spain, and yeah, that would be incredible."

The catch is that he does not wish to do it if it means fighting in the middle of the night local time, which the UFC has historically done with international cards to preserve the U.S. pay-per-view start time.

The UFC is currently negotiating its next media rights deal in the U.S., and Mark Shapiro, chief operating officer of TKO Group Holdings, said earlier this year that the UFC's parent company is open to a non-PPV model.

"Life has changed on the pay-per-view front," Shapiro said at a media conference in March. "Look, it works for us, but we are super flexible. Linear, broadcast, streaming, pay-per-view, not pay-per-view."

"If the UFC does this new deal with somebody who puts more priority in doing PPVs in the primetime window of the host country itself, then why couldn't it be in Spain?" Diaz said. "Ilia has never fought at home in the UFC. ... It would be amazing."

There is no shortage of dates an event like this could fall on, but a summer blockbuster seems most likely. That would bring our timeline to mid-2026.

Peace?

Topuria's vision for his career to this point is very clear: Pimblett grudge match and history with Makhachev. After that, not only is the vision unclear, it's pretty much empty.

As hard as it typically is for fighters to walk away from MMA, no one on Topuria's team said they envision him continuing to fight just to fight. If he were to make history and win an unprecedented third belt, any future opportunity or matchup would really have to excite him for him to take it. Something that doesn't exist today would have to materialize within the next 18 months.

"I don't know what else he could do at that point," Diaz said. "I guess look for the next big fight -- or if he's happy with it, call it a day. Competition is what would keep him around. A real competition."

For someone such as McGregor, who enjoyed a meteoric rise through titles and fame, the desire to look for something bigger led him to the boxing ring and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. Topuria has said he's open to the idea of crossing over after his MMA career is done, but there's a catch. He would have to like the matchup, because he wouldn't box just to do it.

"That's an option for me, yes," Topuria said. "I have that door if I want it. Right now, though, I don't see anyone that I would want to box with."

Until any of it happens, this is all speculation and dreams. Topuria (a -500 favorite by ESPNBet) could come up short against Oliveira (+350) on Saturday, and this entire script would need a rewrite. But when Aleksandre maps out what an "ideal scenario" would look like for his brother, there's really only one logical step after Makhachev.

Peace.

Because once you've done it all, there's no sense in continuing to look for more.

"There is always something you can find, but if he were to do all of this, I would tell him he can retire in peace," Aleksandre said. "Even now, he could retire in peace. But if he did all of this? What's left? Fight Jon Jones at heavyweight? He will have done something that has never happened before. It's the perfect scenario."

It's wild to think about. Topuria may no longer be hoping to retire by 30, but there is a world in which he still does.