UFC 317: Ilia Topuria open to challenging Islam Makhachev for 170 belt
UFC 317 headliner Ilia Topuria talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters ahead of his vacant lightweight title bout vs. Charles Oliveira on June 28.
LAS VEGAS – Ahead of his chance to become a two-division UFC champion next week, Ilia Topuria sounds like he has few, if any, regrets about his move to lightweight.
Topuria vacated the featherweight title earlier this year so he could move to lightweight, presumably for a shot at champ Islam Makhachev. But Makhachev announced a move to welterweight and vacated the lightweight belt.
Now Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) meets Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) for the vacant 155-pound title in the main event of UFC 317 next week at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Apart from not getting a chance to fight Makhachev, considered by many the world’s pound-for-pound best fighter currently, Topuria said not cutting to 145 pounds has made his entire life better – not just in the fight world.
“This is the happiest I ever have been in my training camps because of the weight cut,” Topuria said Friday at a media scrum ahead of an open workout in Las Vegas. “I have been able to enjoy the whole process, and I feel ready. I feel ready, man. You guys are not even expecting what you’re going to see on June 28.
“Everything (changed) because at the end of the day, that 10 pounds makes a lot of difference. In my life, before, I had to be for 12 weeks cutting the weight. I haven’t been able to enjoy anything because I have to be professional at the same time in the fight game and also in the nutrition part. So this time, I have been able to enjoy the whole process and I’m very happy.”
The UFC has had a handful of champions who have been able to win a belt in a second division while concurrently the champion of another, but the promotion appears to be moving away from that. Because of that, Topuria essentially had to vacate his 145-pound title to move up to 155.
But just because he won’t be a simultaneous two-division champ if he wins, he won’t let an opportunity to remind people of the historic nature of his potential win pass him by.
“I don’t care (about having two titles at the same time),” he said. “I’m going to put both belts on my shoulders, anyway.”
Topuria is more than a 4-1 betting favorite against Oliveira, a former lightweight champ who had to vacate the title when he missed weight ahead of a title defense against Justin Gaethje in 2022.
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