Ilia Topuria Responds to Charles Oliveira Calling Him 'Disrespectful'

Ilia Topuria responds to Charles Oliveira calling his comments 'disrespectful':

"I haven't dissed [Charles], I've told the truth. He has 10 losses...

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He says [lightweight] is the toughest division there is. When he was fighting at 145, Cub Swanson beat him up." 😳

🎥… pic.twitter.com/5tTvpuWTIQ

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 30, 2025

Ilia Topuria denies being disrespectful toward Charles Oliveira.

Topuria recently vacated his featherweight title and announced a move to lightweight. While “La Leyenda” is rallying for an immediate lightweight title shot, champ Islam Makhachev isn’t willing to give him one. Perennial contender Oliveira also said that he will only consider a matchup against Topuria once the latter proves himself at lightweight.

Topuria took a dig at Oliveira’s resume in response, pointing out the Brazilian’s losses. “Do Bronx” found Topuria’s comments to be disrespectful towards the entire lightweight division, which is often considered the toughest on the entire UFC roster. However, Topuria doesn’t think he was being disrespectful by shedding light on Oliveira’s losses.

Topuria dismissed the notion of the lightweight division being tougher than other divisions. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard noted that Oliveira only realized his championship dream after moving up from 145 pounds to 155 pounds. Topuria further clarified that he doesn’t have any personal enmity against Oliveira and wouldn’t mind spending some time together after the end of their careers.

“I haven’t dissed [Charles], I’ve told the truth,” Topuria said (video via Marca). “He has 10 losses. I haven’t said anything else. He has 10 losses, five by knockout, four by submission, one by decision. He says [lightweight] is the toughest division there is. When he was fighting at 145 [pounds], even Cub Swanson beat him up. That’s where the conversation ends.

“Something he couldn’t achieve at 145 pounds, he did at 155, where he became champion. So why is that division tougher than the one I come from? I don’t find any logic in it. And that’s also why I said it seems like he hasn’t read a single page of a newspaper. So if that’s disrespectful, I don’t know since when telling the truth is disrespectful.”

Topuria won the title against Alexander Volkanovski and defended it against Max Holloway last year before moving up to lightweight. Meanwhile, Oliveira has gone 2-2 in his last four and comes off a unanimous decision win over Michael Chandler.