Ilia Topuria splits from coaches in shock move ahead of UFC 317 title fight

In a surprising move, Ilia Topuria has reportedly split from his longtime coaches ahead of his lightweight title fight at UFC 317.

On 28 June, Topuria will fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt, after Islam Makhachev relinquished the gold to pursue the welterweight title. Similarly, Topuria vacated the featherweight strap in February to chase lightweight gold.

And the Spanish-Georgian, despite preparing for one of the biggest bouts of his career, has decided to split from fraternal coaches Jorge and Augustin Climent as he starts camp.

That is per Spanish publication Marca, as well as MMA Fighting and MMA Junkie. Per those reports, Topuria and his brother Aleksandre – a UFC bantamweight – are parting ways with the Climent brothers on good terms.

The move is apparently the result of the distance between the coaches’ gym in Alicante and Topuria’s residence in Madrid. Before his title defence against Max Holloway in October, the Climent brothers travelled back and forth between their gym and Madrid, with Topuria remaining in the Spanish capital.

Topuria went on to knock out Holloway in round three, building on a second-round KO of Alexander Volkanovski last February, with which “El Matador” won the 145lb title.

Now, the 28-year-old is moving up to 155lb, where he stopped Jai Herbert in 2022 – but only after suffering a knockdown.

In Oliveira, Topuria will take on a former lightweight champion. The Brazilian, 35, held the gold from May 2021 until May 2022, stopping Michael Chandler to win the vacant belt before submitting Dustin Poirier to retain it, and ultimately losing the title on the scales.

A day before his planned title defence against Justin Gaethje, Oliveira narrowly missed weight, and so he was stripped of the belt and unable to regain it the next night. In any case, he submitted Gaethje to set up a vacant-title fight with Makhachev, who submitted “Do Bronx” and held the gold until this month.

Makhachev achieved a record four successful lightweight title defences along the way, and he now eyes 170lb glory. That means a much-desired bout between the Russian and Topuria has passed fans by, for now at least.