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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Las Vegas with two title fights, which are now official following the UFC 317 weigh-ins.
Main eventing the 11-fight event is a vacant lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira. Both former champions made weight, as did flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, who will put his 125-pound belt on the line against challenger Kai Kara-France. All other fighters made weight with the exception of newcomer Christopher Ewert, who was going to miss weight by 10 pounds for his fight against Jackson McVey. Ewert has been released from the promotion as a result.
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Undefeated as a professional, Topuria (16-0) moves up to lightweight following two incredible knockouts over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. The former featherweight titleholder found it difficult to continue making the weight, thus the move up. “El Matador” is in conversation as the greatest 145-pound fighter ever and looks to continue growing his legacy with a second UFC championship. Topuria stepped on the scale at 155 pounds on the dot.
Meanwhile, Oliveira (35-10, 1 NC) is looking to regain the title that he lost on the scales previously. “Do Bronxs” had a surprising career resurgence, which saw him capture the vacant title in a wild fight against Michael Chandler in 2021. Further victories against Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier proved he was elite, although he’s since faltered against Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. The Brazilian officially weighed 154.5 pounds for his third shot at a vacant UFC belt.
UFC 317’s main card will air live on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Prelims begin on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT before moving to ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
UFC 317 Weigh-in Results:
Ilia Topuria (155) vs. Charles Oliveira (154.5)
Alexandre Pantoja (125) vs. Kai Kara-France (125)
Brandon Royval (125.5) vs. Joshua Van (125.5)
Beneil Dariush (156) vs. Renato Carneiro (156)
Felipe Lima (135.5) vs. Payton Talbott (136)
Jack Hermansson (185.5) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (186)
Hyder Amil (145.5) vs. Jose Delgado (145.5)
Viviane Araujo (125.5) vs. Tracy Cortez (126)
Viacheslav Borshchev (155) vs. Terrance McKinney (156)
Niko Price (170.5) vs. Jacobe Smith (170.5)
Jhonata Diniz (257.5) vs. Alvin Hines (259.5)
Christopher Ewert (N/A)* vs. Jackson McVey (185)
Arman Tsarukyan (155)**
*Ewert was set to miss weight by 10 pounds and has been cut from the promotion as a result.
**Tsarukyan is a back-up fighter for the main event.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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