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The UFC has finally booked Ilia Topuria’s highly anticipated lightweight debut – and it will be for another title.
Topuria, who vacated the featherweight championship in February, is scheduled to take on former UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 on June 28 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Oliveira vs. Topuria will take place for the vacant lightweight title.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the news, along with other fight bookings, Tuesday on Instagram. Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is vacating his title to move up to welterweight to challenge for the title in that division, White announced.
White said Makhachev’s title shot against new champion Jack Della Maddalena, who beat Belal Muhammad this past Saturday at UFC 315, will be announced later.
Topuria’s profile has skyrocketed in the past year following his two title-fight wins at 145 pounds. In February 2024, Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the belt, and then followed that up with another vicious knockout, completing his first title defense against ex-champ Max Holloway. Topuria became the first person to knock out Holloway.
Oliveira has dealt with mixed results since losing to Makhachev for the UFC vacant lightweight title in 2022. He defeated Beniel Dariush by TKO in 2023, and then last year lost a close split decision to Arman Tsarukyan. But Oliveira bounced back with a dominant decision win over former Bellator champion Michael Chandler.
Topuria and Oliveira have circled each other in recent months, with both expressing a willingness to fight each other. Now it’ll happen on one of the UFC’s biggest stages of the year.
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