UFC Confirms Conditional Matchups for Ilia Topuria at UFC 317

Hang on tight, because it’s about to get confusing.

Ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champ Ilia Topuria (16-0) appeared on Spanish television broadcast “El Hormiguero” on Thursday night to reveal his next opponent. The Spanish-Georgian fighter explained that he would be appearing at UFC 317 on June 28, but that his opponent was not yet decided. Instead, he noted that it was outcome-dependent, namely following the results of the UFC 315 main event at 170 pounds between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena.

As he stated, if champ Muhammad prevailed at night’s end, Topuria would end up facing Islam Makhachev for the lightweight throne. However, if Maddalena won the championship bout, Makhachev would move up to welterweight to challenge Maddalena while Topuria would square off against Charles Oliveira for the vacant 155-pound belt—and Ian Garry would have the next crack at Muhammad. He also noted that he planned on reverting back to his original nickname of “El Matador” rather than his chosen “La Leyenda” due to fan backlash and ridicule. At the UFC 315 press conference on Thursday, the promotion confirmed that this would indeed be the case.

Topuria left his 145-pound crown behind after wrecking Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back shockers. In the latter, the man once again known as “El Matador” became the first fighter to ever stop the ultra-durable Holloway with strikes. The Climent Club export has yet to taste defeat as a pro, with 14 of his 16 victories coming inside the distance. He briefly tested the waters at 155 pounds in the promotion in 2022, slugging it out with Jai Herbert and even getting floored before he iced Herbert in the second stanza.

Current lightweight king Makhachev is riding a stellar 15-fight win streak, one shy of Anderson Silva’s all-time record. The close friend and training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov picked up where Nurmagomedov left off by claiming the vacant title against Oliveira, and he has since defended it four times including twice against Volkanovski. In the process, he notched the record for the most consecutive defenses of the UFC lightweight throne.

Brazilian ex-champ Oliveira surrendered his belt to the scales before facing Justin Gaethje, and he went on to tap “The Highlight” in the first round. He vied for his old title against Makhachev at UFC 280, ultimately suffering a stoppage loss. Bouncing back in 2023 by knocking out Beneil Dariush, he subsequently dropped a controversial split decision to Arman Tsarukyan where fans and pundits cried for two more rounds of competition between the two. Last November, Oliveira rematched Michael Chandler, winning once again but needing the full 25 minutes to get his hand raised.