Shakur Stevenson calls out UFC Champ Ilia Topuria

Last Updated on February 11, 2026 by Pragjyoti Singh

“The champ is back,” posted Ilia Topuria on his Instagram after successfully reaching a settlement with his ex-wife Giorgina Uzcategui who, to the shock of MMA fans, previously accused the UFC champ of alleged domestic violence. While Topuria might have had his hands full with the legal proceedings, the lightweight division over which he currently reigns also saw an epic showdown between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett for the interim title at UFC 324 — with the winner (Justin Gaethje) set to face the Spaniard for the undisputed UFC lightweight strap. Although Topuria’s plans now look set to defend the title this year, with rumors suggesting it could be at the White House card on June 14, the UFC star was hit with an unexpected callout from none other than WBO champ Shakur Stevenson.

Shakur Stevenson challenges Ilia Topuria to box

Fresh after achieving the rare feat of becoming a four-division champ following his win against Teofimo Lopez, Shakur Stevenson is basking in the glory of his achievement, with boxing analyst and former two-time champ Tim Bradley even claiming that the 28-year-old could eclipse the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford. While talks of a fight against Conor Benn have been in the news, Stevenson recently made an unexpected callout during a live stream with influencer Adin Ross.

While on Adin Ross’s stream with Terence Crawford, Stevenson discussed why boxing was always better than the UFC in terms of skill and popularity. Ross’s attempt at hyping up the UFC was met with a strong response from Stevenson.

“I saw you say that — you gotta take that back. You said that the UFC is better than boxing.”

Crawford joined in with a major statement, claiming the “UFC will never be better than boxing.”

“At all. It ain’t even close,” Stevenson added.

Crawford went on to add: “The skill level is different. UFC is good for what they do, and we good for what we do. You gotta think — if I can’t whoop you with my hands, I can kick you, I can take you down. It’s a whole different mental capacity than just kicking, punching.”

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Adin Ross then went on to pose more questions, even asking if UFC legend Jon Jones could come over and dominate the sport. As expected, Stevenson straight-up shut it down. Ross then asked whether Ilia Topuria could do it. “Tell him come fight me,” fired back Stevenson.

Although the 28-year-old WBO and Ring champ might have nonchalantly responded with no intentions of ever facing the UFC lightweight champ, one could never know, considering the major UFC names that have transitioned into boxing for a bigger and fatter paycheck over the past few years.

The big question now is: will Topuria respond? Going by his past interactions with Terence Crawford, when both fighters got into an online spat, one can fully expect ‘El Matador’ to fire back.

Interestingly, the UFC star has also made his feelings clear about his boxing plans last year. Speaking to Marca, Topuria said:
“It’s no secret that I always wanted to go and test my skills in boxing, but I think something I’ve always applied to my life is that he who wants to hunt two rabbits in the end does not hunt either.”

He further added: “So I want to first finish my story in mixed martial arts, in MMA, and once I finish, to make my complete transition to boxing — because I cannot be preparing for an MMA fight, then go prepare for a boxing match, return… I think it would not be very professional, right?”

Considering the fact that UFC CEO Dana White has been overseeing the newly launched Zuffa Boxing, which has been under constant scrutiny from boxing experts, Topuria’s plans could be much closer than it looks.