Ilia Topuria finally has his fight.
Topuria shockingly vacated the featherweight title back in February to move up to lightweight and Dana White has officially confirmed his first fight at 155 pounds. Topuria gets a crack at the lightweight title as he’ll take on Charles Oliveira for the vacated belt. The title was relinquished by Islam Makhachev in May in order to move up to the welterweight division.
Topuria was instantly given a top name in the lightweight division as Charles is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and is fresh off an impressive victory over Michael Chandler.
However, Topuria is undefeated. He came into the UFC in 2020 and has gotten huge wins over Josh Emmett, Alexander Volkanovski, and Max Holloway. He comes in with a nice 16-fight winning streak. Topuria is mighty confident that he’ll get through Olivera on June 28.
But Olivera isn't lacking in confidence either.
The lightweight title bout headlines a card that will see the return of previous middleweight contender Paulo Costa.
But another title will be on the line as well. UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja will defend his belt against Kai Kara-France in the co-main event. This is Pantoja’s fourth title defense, with the 35-year-old successfully fending off Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and Kai Asakura. Pantoja hasn’t lost a fight in five years and is currently in the midst of an impressive eight-fight winning streak.
Kai Kara-France is coming off a star-making performance over Steve Erceg at UFC 305. Kai has previously beaten former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt and has won three of his last five fights. He comes in with a record of 25 wins and 11 losses.
The full card has yet to be announced and plans can change for the main card anytime. Check out the UFC 317 main card below.
Main card (ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET)
Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France
Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov
Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
Jhonata Diniz vs. Justin Tafa