Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 during International Fight Week in Las Vegas on June 28th.
The fight was immediately booked after Islam Makhachev opted to vacate the 155lb title in order to pursue his ambition to be a two-division champion by fighting newly crowned welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena at a future date still to be confirmed at this time.
That mirrors the 28-year-old Topuria’s plan, as he vacated the featherweight title back in February in order to fight for the lightweight belt, with his intention being to fight Makhachev.
However, after months of speculation Makhachev has decided that the chance to fight for the welterweight title is more appealing at this stage in his career, so Topuria will go up against former champion Oliveira instead.
Topuria is currently ranked No.3 on the UFC’s pound-for-pound list after going on an eight-fight winning streak at featherweight in the promotion that extended his unbeaten record to a perfect 16-0.
Along the way Topuria KO’d long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski to seize the title in early 2024, and then also KO’d former divisional kingpin Max Holloway later that year.
As for Oliveira, he has posted mixed results since being stripped of the 155lb title for missing weight prior to a fight with Justin Gaethje back in 2022.
Oliveira would go on to beat Gaethje by 1st round submission the following night, but then lost to Islam Makhachev in a fight for the vacant title later that year.
He then got back to winning ways with a TKO victory over Beneil Dariush, but lost by split-decision to Arman Tsarukyan in a title-eliminator a year ago, before getting back on track with a unanimous decision win against Michael Chandler in November.
It seems there’s a good chance Topuria vs. Oliveira will serve as the main event for UFC 317, which will also feature a flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Kara-France, as well as the likes of Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano, Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape and Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov.
