It’s probably a done deal, but it’s not official yet. Ilia Topuria looks like he will be fighting Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 during International Fight Week on 28 June. We know this because Islam Makhachev has indeed confirmed that he would be moving up to 170 pounds and fighting newly-minted champion Jack Della Maddalena for the title.
The Aussie, of course, won a unanimous decision over Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 tonight. The new welterweight champ has confirmed that he is looking forward to the “beautiful challenge” the Dagestani lightweight champ presents. Dana White, Topuria, and Makhachev have all said before UFC 315 that this is the direction things would go in should Della Maddalena win.
But it seems there are still some angles to work out, and the UFC isn’t ready to make an official announcement yet. “Do you have an International Fight Week announcement for us?” a reporter asked UFC executive Dave Shaw at the 315 post-fight presser.
“I don’t. Certainly I can give you the standard, you know, wait till Tuesday. Listen, Dana talked about it on the press conference Thursday, there are a ew different scenarios he laid out. I don’t know the decision is but you can expect to hear more this week,” Shaw said.
(More to follow)
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