Ilia Topuria might not be without gold for much longer. Topuria vacated his UFC featherweight championship in February as he prepared for a permanent move to lightweight. His first fight as a full-time lightweight will be for the vacant title when he takes on Charles Oliveira, UFC president Dana White announced on Tuesday.
Topuria vs. Oliveira headlines UFC 317 in Las Vegas on June 28. The pay-per-view card is the tentpole event for the 2025 UFC International Fight Week. The title fight means that current 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev will jump to welterweight after Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad for the 170-pound title at UFC 315. White said that Makhachev and Della Maddalena have agreed to the fight, but location and date are still to be determined.
Topuria (16-0) was on the verge of a very special 145-pound title reign before vacating the belt. Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway successively, two of the three greatest featherweights. His ambitions to win a second UFC title were no secret, but his abrupt featherweight departure — citing challenging weight cuts — caught the MMA world by surprise. Topuria fought once at lightweight, surviving an early scare against Jai Herbert and scoring a knockout win.
Very few fighters have endeared themselves to fans quite like Oliveira. “Do Bronx” (35-10, 1 NC) defeated Michael Chandler for the vacant UFC lightweight title in 2021. He defended the title against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje before dropping it to Makhachev. A dynamic dual threat unlike any other, Oliveira holds UFC records for most finishes, submissions and post-fight bonuses.
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