“I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life.” Ilia Topuria posted on X, shutting down not only his chances of fighting in January, but basically the entire first quarter of 2026. The reason? The lightweight champ’s personal situation, which many fans keep tying to a possible breakup with his wife, Georgina Uzcategui Badell. Nothing has been announced, but the speculation hasn’t slowed down. And as ‘El Matador’ steps away from the cage to deal with whatever’s going on, an old social media post lambasting a former champ has surfaced again.

The Georgian-Spaniard has always had a knack for stirring the pot with his words, and he did exactly that against Belal Muhammad back in 2024. Because of the Palestinian-American’s close ties to the Dagestani camp, there was always a little side rivalry simmering between him and ‘El Matador’. Last year, it hit its peak when Topuria took a derogatory turn and called him out for not having knockouts in the UFC, even throwing in a jab at Belal for not having a girlfriend.

Ilia Topuria’s dig at Belal Muhammad comes back to bite him 

“NO FINISHES NO KNOCKOUTS NO KNOCKDOWNS NO GIRLFRIEND NO KIDS BELAL HAS NEVER FINISHED ANY MAN OR WOMAN 😂” That’s what Ilia Topuria posted on X, alongside a clip of Belal Muhammad getting poked in the eye by Leon Edwards back on March 13, 2021.

Now, after this post started resurfacing, fans quickly began pointing out that Topuria once took a shot at Belal for not having a girlfriend. And now many are saying the Georgian-Spaniard’s old X jab toward Belal might age badly, especially since he could be dealing with a possible divorce from Giorgina and maybe even a custody battle as well. However, while MMA fans assumed that was the whole story, there’s actually a deeper layer behind the original post, one that’s rooted in lingering rivalry.

After Muhammad shared his take that Islam Makhachev wouldn’t gain much from fighting Topuria at lightweight. Following the Palestinian American’s remark, both sides went back and forth for a while. That feud is what led ‘El Matador’ to bring up the old exchange in the first place. Before Muhammad’s bout with Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310. 

Topuria jabbed at him by calling him “fake” at a Q&A session last year on his social media handle, saying both Kamaru Usman and Shavkat would handle Muhammad easily. Hearing that, the ex-170 lbs king fired right back on X, calling out Topuria for buying a fake BMF belt after beating Max Holloway at UFC 308. That’s where their fiery exchange really kicked off, and things only got uglier and resulted in Topuria taking a dig at him for not having a girlfriend.  

It’s fair to say the two of them didn’t actually trade that many heated shots after that moment. They pretty much moved on. And honestly, the lightweight division did the same. Things picked up real pace, and now we finally know who’s going to face Ilia next. 

Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett for the interim title done for UFC 324 

There was quite a bit of mystery around what Dana White had in store for the first-ever Paramount card, especially since he kept things quiet for a long time. But during halftime of an NFL game, the UFC CEO finally dropped some pretty stacked announcements. Kayla Harrison will defend her title against a returning Amanda Nunes in the UFC 324 co-main event, and Alexander Volkanovski will face Diego Lopes in a rematch at UFC 325. 

But the biggest reveal was Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett headlining UFC 324, with White clearly stating that the winner gets Ilia Topuria next for the title.

“Obviously, you just saw Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett for the interim title. Earlier, Topuria posted, ‘I’m dealing with some personal problems, so I’m not going to fight the first quarter.’ The winner of Gaethje vs. Paddy will be the interim titleholder, and then they will face Topuria,” White said on Instagram Live.

For fight fans, UFC 324 couldn’t look any better as two of the most popular lightweights get ready to collide. Still, the interim tag stirred some backlash, with many believing Arman Tsarukyan, the number one contender, got robbed of his shot.

That said, how do you see the lightweight division playing out while Ilia Topuria stays on hiatus? And can he show up sharp against the challenger after taking this time off? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.