Ilia Topuria doesn’t seem to be in a rush to return to work after suffering his first professional loss last month. The defeat was more brutal than a simple setback. Justin Gaethje stopped him via fourth-round corner stoppage at UFC Freedom 250, and Topuria left the White House’s South Lawn with non-displaced fractures in both orbital bones, hospitalized with both eyes swollen shut by the final horn.

While the lightweight division continues to move on without him, and questions swirl over when he’ll fight again, the former champion has been spotted partying in Ibiza with Spain and Barcelona star Ferran Torres, fresh off winning his country the World Cup.

Videos of the pair celebrating inside a packed nightclub have quickly gone viral across social media. And as expected, the footage immediately sparked comparisons to Conor McGregor and his own post-title-loss stretch, when the Irish superstar leaned into the celebrity lifestyle after his defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov, a period many point to as the start of his decline.

The Conor comparisons directed at Topuria aren’t new. Long before the Ibiza footage surfaced, other fighters had already accused him of borrowing McGregor’s image. Ahead of their UFC 308 featherweight title fight, Max Holloway called Topuria a “copycat.”

“This guy’s a copycat,” Holloway said. “Down to the tattoos, to his aura, to the way he’s approaching fights, the guy’s a copycat. He’s just trying to steal stuff. He’s already trying to steal McGregor’s aura, and now he’s trying to steal somebody else’s thing.”

Paddy Pimblett made a similar case after Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to claim the vacant lightweight title, with their rivalry running hot at the time.

“He’s trying to be Conor McGregor,” Pimblett said on UFC Unfiltered. “He’s got the same tattoos. He even said the other day, ‘I’m gonna put my balls on your forehead,’ which is sort of what McGregor said to Chad Mendes. He’s just a carbon copy of McGregor. You see some people now saying he’s better than McGregor, but he’s not. In their prime at the same time, McGregor would have knocked him out with the straight left.”

With the lightweight picture already moving on without him, Topuria’s timing has drawn extra scrutiny. Analysts including Daniel Cormier have pointed to Arman Tsarukyan as the fighter best positioned for the next shot at Gaethje’s belt, given his current win streak and activity level, while Gaethje himself has yet to name his preferred opponent and told Joe Rogan he isn’t in a rush to return either. Topuria has yet to announce when he’ll fight again or who he’ll face once he does.

Fans React To Topuria’s Ibiza Trip

The parallels to McGregor’s post-Khabib stretch didn’t take long to show up in the replies.

“Down the Conor route,” one fan wrote. Another added, “McGregor tradition goes on.” One user dug up an old McGregor quote and posted it alongside the video: “Partying is weakness for the soul, my friend.” – Conor McGregor.

Others suspected Topuria might be heading toward the same mistakes. “Money takes everyone’s aura. He never getting the belt if this is what he is doing with his free time,” one fan wrote. Another commented, “Come on guys, he’s gotta follow the McGregor pattern, it’s party time.”

Some pushed the comparison further still. “And the downfall begins (Conor style),” one wrote. Another simply posted, “CONOR CAREER 2.0.” A third added, “The McGregor arc 😣.”

One fan pointed to the fight itself as the turning point. “Gaethje destroyed him, it’ll never be the same anymore,” he wrote.

For now, Topuria’s next move, in the Octagon or otherwise, remains an open question, one his own timeline will have to answer.