Topuria's face shows clear recovery two weeks after brutal UFC Freedom 250 title loss

Ilia Topuria’s facial injuries are healing well following his lightweight title loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250, with a new photo shared on X by Georgian reporter Giorgi Kokiashvili showing the former two-division champion posing alongside a young fan roughly two weeks after the bout.

The image shows a marked improvement from the visible damage Topuria sustained on fight night. Swelling around both eyes has significantly reduced, and cuts he suffered during the contest appear to have largely healed.

Gaethje inflicted the damage methodically across the fight. He opened a cut under Topuria’s eye in the opening round and continued to pile on punishment through the third and fourth rounds. Topuria’s corner ultimately stopped the contest before the fifth and final round, handing Gaethje the lightweight championship.

In an Instagram post published days after the defeat, Topuria acknowledged the severity of the eye damage and left the door open for a rematch. “Justin, congratulations. You said you’d leave your mark on my face… and you did,” he wrote. “You took the sight from my right eye in the first round, and by the end of the second, from my left too. No excuses. I had one of the best camps of my life. I came in sharp, prepared, and ready. Last night was your night. That’s the nature of this game. Glory and pain walk side by side. I’ll heal. I’ll rest. And I’ll return stronger, wiser, and far more dangerous. And trust me… this story between us is far from over. We will have our rematch.”