Alex Pereira’s coach, Plinio Cruz, shared his reaction to Ilia Topuria’s comeback post.

‘El Matador’ took to Instagram to share snaps of himself training, with the caption:

Back to the office.

Check out Topuria’s post below:

Topuria was badly battered in his last outing (at UFC Freedom 250), which also saw him suffer the first loss in his MMA career. Coming into the fight as the lightweight champion, the 29-year-old took on Justin Gaethje.

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14: (L-R) Justin Gaethje strikes Topuria of Spain in the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn at the White House on June 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

‘The Highlight’ began dominating Topuria after round 2 and eventually won via TKO (corner stoppage) at the end of round 4, also getting his hands on the lightweight title for the very first time.

Topuria suffered several facial injuries and was only recently cleared to fight.

Now that he is back to training, Plinio Cruz, Alex Pereira’s head coach, shared a one-word reaction, writing ‘Chama.’

Check out Plinio Cruz’s comment on Ilia Topuria’s post below:

Ilia Topuria Not Next in line for Justin Gaethje if and When he Defends his belt

Justin Gaethje recently named the fighter he would take on if and when he defends the lightweight belt, and it is not Ilia Topuria.

In a recent appearance on the Flagrant podcast, Gaethje told Andrew Schulz and the co-hosts that Arman Tsarukyan would be next in line:

He’s [Arman Tsarukyan] the next in line. If and when I defend this championship, that will be who I fight. I just don’t know right now…It cost me a lot. I need to recover…I’m just going to enjoy being the champion for the rest of the year. I’m going to make a business decision and a life decision whenever the time comes.

Check out Justin Gaethje’s comments below:

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.