‘I’m back’: Ilia Topuria reveals he’s been cleared to return to action after brutal UFC White House loss

Damon Martin is a veteran journalist and insider covering combat sports since 2003.

Ilia Topuria is ready to reclaim his throne.

Speculation has been running wild for days about a timeline for Topuria to make his return to action following a brutal back-and-forth battle against Justin Gaethje at the UFC White House card. Topuria reportedly suffered several major injuries, which eventually forced his coaches to stop the fight after the fourth round to prevent any further damage.

Now Topuria has finally issued his own statement revealing that he’s been cleared to return to action and he’s got a lot of work to do now that he’s back.

“Final medical tests done. I’m back,” Topuria wrote on Twitter. “To all the clowns who’ve been talking shit and counting me out this whole time, here I am. Now let’s see who’s got the balls.

“Thanks to everyone for the support. Next time I’ll make sure they check Justin’s gloves so he doesn’t put anything weird on them. See you soon.”

It’s the first time Topuria has made the claim that Gaethje had something “weird” on his gloves during the fight. Gaethje earned the victory after going to war with Topuria and eventually gaining the upper had by dishing out more punishment in the final two rounds that led to the stoppage.

As far as Topuria’s comeback fight, it’s possible the UFC decides to just run it back immediately with Gaethje considering the attention and ratings the first fight earned.

There’s also a potential showdown with Paddy Pimblett staring Topuria down after they’ve engaged in a heated rivalry for the past couple of years.

Obviously, Topuria would like to get his title back, and he took a direct parting shot at Gaethje and his manager Ali Abdelaziz after telling the world he was cleared to fight again.

“By the way Justin, f*ck you,” Topuria wrote. “And Ali, f*ck you too.”

It didn’t take long for Gaethje to hear about Topuria’s readiness to fight again or making some strange accusation about his gloves from the fight in June.

“94 days and the best you could come up with is a lame excuse,” Gaethje fired back. “As terrible as your last performance. Do better kid.”