‘El Matador’ seems to be on the mend following his merciless loss to Justin Gaethje on the South Lawn over two weeks ago.

It has been 16 days since former UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria lost via TKO in extremely brutal fashion to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250. The fight was a battle from start to finish and, as his condition worsened, round by round, Topuria’s team were left with little choice and declared the fight to be over, saving their fighter from any more damage.

Topuria left the Octagon mangled and was immediately transported to the hospital in the aftermath of the punishing battle.

Post-fight, fans were fearing the worst. One look at his face would tell you that Topuria was in serious trouble. The Georgian star suffered serious facial injuries which could keep him out of action for up to a year.

Ilia Topuria’s First Public Appearance

Amber Searls via Imagn Images

The first photo of Topuria has emerged since the bout on the grounds of the White House, where he can be seen having a meal while wearing sunglasses. This caused some speculation online as to why he was wearing sunglasses in the image, with comments like: “I thought his manager said he looked like he never fought. If so, why the glasses?”

It might be to hide the true extent of his facial injuries, which he is unlikely to have fully recovered from in just over two weeks.

Topuria appears to be healing well, all things considered, which checks out when compared to what his trainer said recently about his recovery.

According to Topuria’s team, the former champion could return as soon as December, but will need six-to-eight weeks for his injuries to heal properly, especially since the orbital bone was not displaced. Failing this time frame, he will be expected to be back at some point in 2027.

At UFC Freedom 250, Topuria had his undefeated record wiped clean by Gaethje and lost his championship at the same time. While he did praise the American for his victory, he has not spoken publicly since the fight.

This may be expected to change in the next few weeks, however, after the emergence of these photos on social media, and fans will be eager to hear when they can expect to see the former champion in action again.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has named the world’s five best footballers right now following France’s 3-0 victory over Sweden in the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup.

Kylian Mbappe scored another brace and moves level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi on six goals in the race for the Golden Boot. The Real Madrid superstar now has 18 World Cup goals to his name. Only Messi (19) has more World Cup goals in the tournament’s history.

Bradley Barcola scored France’s other goal. Meanwhile, Michael Olise bagged two assists, and Ousmane Dembele set up Mbappe’s opener.

France are unquestionably the World Cup’s standout team so far and will be the red-hot favourites heading into Saturday’s last 16 tie against Paraguay at the Philadelphia Stadium.

Win that and they’ll then face either Canada or Morocco in the quarter-finals before a potential semi-final against Portugal, Spain, United States or Belgium depending on how results unfold in the previous two rounds.

REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Ibrahimovic, the legendary retired Swedish striker who has impressed in his role as a pundit for FOX Sports at this summer’s World Cup, believes three members of the France squad are among the five best players in world football as things stand.

The former Barcelona and Manchester United star said after being wowed by Les Bleus:

He explained that Messi doesn’t make his top five because the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is in a league of his own, and instead opted for two younger superstars.

Zlatan added: “[Lamine] Yamal and [Erling] Haaland, I would say, because Messi is in his own class… but three of the top five are in [France’s] attack. It’s not easy to make that combination. We have an example when PSG had Mbappe, Messi and Neymar. It was not working 100 per cent.

“But with France, they don’t have this ego, who will be the one. They also do their jobs off the ball, which is more important than on the ball because we know what they can do on the ball. They can decide the game by themselves – all of them. So, it’s scary.”

There was no room in Zlatan’s top five for Bayern Munich and England star Harry Kane, who scored a remarkable 61 goals in 51 games during the 2025-26 season. Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and Paris Saint-Germain’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also missed the cut, despite being among the leading contenders for the 2026 Ballon d’Or award.