Ilia Topuria’s lightweight journey has finally come into focus.
UFC CEO Dana White recently unveiled a series of exciting summer UFC fights, kicking off with the highly anticipated main event for International Fight Week 2025. Scheduled for June 29, UFC 317 will showcase a 155-pound title showdown for the vacant belt, featuring former featherweight champion Topuria facing off against former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. In a surprising twist, former champion Islam Makhachev has relinquished his title and will be moving up a weight class to challenge welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena for the title at a later date in the second half of 2025.
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Oliveira (35-10, 1 NC) will be Topuria’s first test in the lightweight division, as Topuria previously made his UFC lightweight debut in London three years ago. Following in Makhachev’s footsteps, Topuria vacated his featherweight title earlier this year to pursue a new challenge in a different weight class. On the flip side, Oliveira is looking to add another 155-pound title to his collection after claiming gold in 2021.
Makhachev, currently ranked as Uncrowned’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, is set to face new challenges in the welterweight division.
Topuria, on the other hand, is making the move to 155 pounds after a remarkable two-fight winning streak that saw him defeat featherweight legends Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway back-to-back, earning him Uncrowned’s 2024 Fighter of the Year award. With an impressive 8-0 record in the Octagon since joining the UFC in 2020, “El Matador” is now ranked as Uncrowned’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter.
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Oliveira, 35, has had mixed results in his recent UFC outings, with two losses against Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan interspersed with victories over Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler, the latter of which took place in November.
UFC 317 will also feature a co-main event for the men’s flyweight title, with champion Alexandre Pantoja (29-5) defending his title against Kai Kara-France (25-11, 1 NC). This matchup is a rematch from a 2016 exhibition bout during “The Ultimate Fighter 24,” which Pantoja won by unanimous decision.
But that’s not all White had in store for fans on Tuesday.
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At UFC 319 on Aug. 16 in Chicago, middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis (23-2) will defend his title for the third time against undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev (14-0).
Chimaev, who dominated the welterweight division before moving up to middleweight, has quickly made a name for himself with wins over top fighters like Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker, the latter resulting in a gruesome jaw injury for Whittaker.
In addition to these exciting matchups, White also announced three other fights: Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov and Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano for UFC 317, as well as Shara Magomedov vs. Marc-Andre Barriault on July 26 for UFC Abu Dhabi.