Was Ilia Topuria forced by the UFC to give up his featherweight title? Chael Sonnen seems to think so

Chael Sonnen believes Ilia Topuria was stripped of the UFC featherweight title instead of him vacating.

Earlier this year, Topuria announced he was relinquishing the 145-pound world title and moving up to lightweight. Alexander Volkanovski defeated Diego Lopes at last Saturday's UFC 314 for the vacant throne.

Chael Sonnen, a former UFC fighter and current analyst, has previously teased his belief that Topuria was stripped of his featherweight title and the UFC claimed he vacated the strap for PR reasons.

Sonnen had this to say during a previously released YouTube video:

"I realized the official tale is to be told that Ilia vacated the title. I'm aware that's how we need to tell this as fight fans, but if you weren't told that as fight fans, you just went and looked at what happened, you would have no choice but to realize that he was stripped."

Sonnen continued:

"There was nothing about the way that played out, including the fact that he was no longer champion, he was no longer champion on Saturday night when the bell rang. Are you aware of that? It might seem like a small detail, but if you look at what happened, he was stripped. They've all decided to go along to get along and use the word vacated, and it does matter. It matters to the fighters for whatever silly reason, I'm just sharing it does matter. I'm not willing to play along. He didn't vacate that belt, Ilia got stripped."

Watch Chael Sonnen's comments about Ilia Topuria below:

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Is Ilia Topuria scheduled to fight Charles Oliveira?

Ilia Topuria was initally connected to rumors for an immediate lightweight title shot against pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev.

The talk about Makhachev vs. Topuria has recently died down, raising questions about whether the former featherweight champion could be fighting another 155-pound contender.

Earlier this month, the Spanish broadcast of UFC Vegas 105 revealed a headline claiming Topuria was scheduled to fight Charles Oliveira. MMA reporter Alex Behunin later claimed the rumored matchup wasn't officially booked.

Oliveira, a former lightweight champion, is coming off a unanimous decision win against Michael Chandler in November 2024.

Meanwhile, Topuria solidified himself as a massive superstar in 2024 by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.