Ilia Topuria will face Charles Oliveira, not Islam Makhachev, for the vacant light-weight title at UFC 317 essential occasion.
Ilia Topuria will look so as to add a second Final Combating Championship belt to his assortment when he headlines UFC 317 on June 28 – it simply gained’t be towards Islam Makhachev.
After weeks of heightened anticipation for a possible blockbuster face-off between the famous person pair, Topuria, a former undisputed featherweight champ, will now struggle former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant light-weight title, UFC CEO Dana White introduced on Tuesday.
Makhachev, a four-time defending champion, will vacate the light-weight belt to maneuver as much as welterweight to face newly topped Jack Della Maddalena, who defeated Belal Muhammad last Saturday at UFC 315 to grow to be the brand new title holder within the weight class. The date for that struggle has but to be introduced.
Topuria has an ideal UFC file of 16-0. The Spaniard relinquished his 145-pound (66kg) featherweight title earlier this yr in anticipation of a light-weight title showdown towards Makhachev and took to social media to voice his displeasure on the Russian vacating his title belt.
“On June 29, one other dream will come true,” Topuria wrote. “I’ll be the champion of the light-weight division. Charles [Oliveira], my apologies upfront… I’m simply preventing for my desires. It’s unlucky that Makhachev ran away.”
Makhachev, who sports activities a 27-1 UFC file, is ranked by ESPN as the most effective pound-for-pound UFC fighter on this planet; Topuria is ranked quantity two.
UFC 317 is scheduled to happen at T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas.
