Outside Source
Islam Makhachev vacated his lightweight title and moved up to welterweight to challenge Jack Della Maddalena after the Australian dethroned his friend Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Makhachev would have defended his lightweight title against Ilia Topuria had Muhammad retained his belt.
However, Topuria (16-0) will now fight former champ Charles Oliveira (35-10) for the vacant 155-pound title in the UFC 317 main event on June 28 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Topuria also recently vacated his featherweight crown in pursuit of a lightweight strap.
Oliveira has opened as a massive +250 underdog on most sportsbooks while Topuria is a -300 favorite. Despite this being Topuria’s debut against a former champ, the odds speak of how highly “La Leyenda” is regarded. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard has finished 14 of his 16 pro wins, 8 of which came in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Topuria won the featherweight title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski last year and defended it by handing Max Holloway his first-ever knockout loss before moving up.
Meanwhile, Oliveira won the lightweight strap against Michael Chandler in 2021 and defended it twice before losing it to Islam Makhachev in 2022. Oliveira has since sandwiched a loss against Arman Tsarukyan between wins over Beneil Dariush and Chandler.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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