Daniel Cormier explains why he’s surprised by Ilia Topuria’s lightweight switch

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier has given his thoughts on Ilia Topuria’s decision to make a move up to the lightweight division.

As we know, Ilia Topuria is seemingly done with the featherweight division. He has made the decision to move up to 155 pounds on a full-time basis, and as a result of that, he will be vacating the strap. He’s suggested that it’s because he can no longer make the weight, but after comments from Diego Lopes, some believe it may be due to the promotion not wanting him to hold onto the championship while pursuing a new goal.

RELATED: Daniel Cormier shares interesting theory on Ilia Topuria’s callout of Charles Oliveira

Either way, Topuria’s featherweight days are over – for now. His focus is on lightweight, where there are plenty of intriguing matchups for him to take on.

In a recent podcast, Daniel Cormier gave his thoughts on the situation.

Cormier’s view on Topuria

“He’s a champion through and through, but when I see him, he’s not a big guy,” Cormier said of Topuria on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Sonnen. “I don’t feel like he’s a big guy. So to hear he says he can’t make 145 anymore to me seems a bit odd.

“I’m very surprised that he’s vacating right now,” Cormier said. “I’m very surprised because he has the option – you said, you thought it would be for an interim title only because Ilia has the option to let them fight for an interim championship because of the year he just had.

“The win that he got the title from Volk and then the title defense against Max Holloway, he had the option to hold onto the belt, but he’s saying he’s going up because he feels he’s done everything at 145. One title defense doesn’t feel like ‘everything,’ but it’s a weighted conversation because he just beat the two greatest featherweights of all time outside of Jose Aldo.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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