The brutal process behind Topuria’s perfect weight cut revealed
UFC star Ilia Topuria talks about the process of losing weight to meet the scales in his film ‘Topuria: Matador’.
Gaining weight remains one of the toughest challenges for many fighters, and diet plays a crucial role. Ilia Topuria spent years competing in the featherweight division, which has a limit of 65.8 kg (145 lb). For his final bout at featherweight, his team—especially his partner, Giorgina Uzcátegui—paid close attention to every detail to minimize the strain of weight cuts and rehydration.
However, in February 2025, Topuria made a decisive move: he left the featherweight division, knocked out Alexander Volkanovski, vacated the belt, and committed to fighting at lightweight (70.3 kg / 155 lb) permanently.
In the documentary Topuria: Matador, Glenn Castro described him as “far better prepared both physically and nutritionally” than in previous camps.
His strength and conditioning coach, Aldo Martínez, confirmed that the preparation for Volkanovski had been the best of Topuria’s career up to that point.
Now as a lightweight, he no longer faced the extreme pressure of drastic weight cuts. He appeared at the UFC 317 weigh-in in Las Vegas on June 27, 2025, hitting the 70.3 kg mark with ease—calm, confident, and in peak physical condition.
Topuria “going to hell and back”
Giorgina was a key part of this effort. “When we were in Jacksonville (for the fight against Josh Emmett), the weight cut for him was really hard. I describe it as going to hell and back. That’s when I decided we needed to work on his nutrition,” said Topuria’s partner and the mother of his child. Gio coordinated closely with Aldo, making this the smoothest weight cut yet. “She made our job spectacularly easier,” confirmed Martínez.
This time, the team implemented all the knowledge they had gained through the grueling weight-cutting process. Remarkably, they even had to tell Topuria to eat more—something almost unthinkable for fighters, who often starve and dehydrate themselves in the days leading up to weigh-ins.
“The weight cut was so effective that we were afraid he might lose too much and not rebound as expected afterward,” explained Jorge Climent, one of his coaches. With rehydration and proper nutrition, Topuria was expected to regain about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) after the weigh-in. By fight night, he weighed in at 76 kilograms (167 pounds) when he stepped into the cage.
The weight-cutting process for fighters
In combat sports, fighters are divided into weight classes to ensure fairness and safety, ensuring opponents are evenly matched when they step into the ring or cage. Fighters undergo rigorous diets and training regimens to hit their target weight, only to experience a “rebound effect” after weigh-ins.
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This process involves a combination of caloric restriction, increased physical activity, sweat suits, saunas, and a strict limitation of liquid intake, especially water. This dehydration can result in a short-term loss of several kilograms. Once they make weight, fighters begin to rehydrate and eat gradually, often regaining as much as 10 kilograms (22 pounds) in just one day. Most of the weight lost is water. This grueling process demands immense sacrifice and, for many fighters, is harder than the fight itself.
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