UFC President Dana White and fighter Ilia Topuria seem to have a shared understanding regarding Topuria`s potential opponents for his upcoming bout at UFC 317.
Topuria recently appeared on the Spanish television program El Hormiguero, where he openly discussed his anticipation that his next fight would be against either the reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev or the highly-ranked contender Charles Oliveira.
The identity of Topuria`s opponent is likely contingent upon the result of the main event at UFC 315. This event features Makhachev`s teammate, Belal Muhammad, defending his welterweight championship against Jack Della Maddalena. Should Della Maddalena secure an upset victory, it`s anticipated that Makhachev might move up to the 170-pound division to challenge for that title. Conversely, if Muhammad successfully defends his belt, Makhachev would probably stay at lightweight and potentially defend his title against Topuria, who recently relinquished his featherweight title to pursue a championship in a higher weight class.
During a press conference in Montreal held on the same day, UFC CEO Dana White was asked about Topuria`s comments. White corroborated that the current plan for “El Matador” involves him fighting either Makhachev or Oliveira at UFC 317, which is scheduled for June 28 in Las Vegas.
“Yeah, there`s a lot of moving parts right now and yeah, that`s pretty accurate,” White commented. He did not offer further details, leaving the possibility open as to whether a potential matchup between Topuria and Oliveira would be contested for an interim or vacant lightweight title, should Makhachev not be available.
These recent statements from both White and Topuria are consistent with previous remarks they have made. In February, White had indicated that Makhachev was not necessarily guaranteed to be Topuria`s initial opponent upon his move to the 155-pound division. In March, Topuria claimed he had been promised a title opportunity by the UFC, though he was uncertain of who his opponent would ultimately be at that time.
Consequently, significant attention is now focused on Saturday`s main event, as the outcome of the Muhammad versus Della Maddalena fight is poised to create notable implications across more than one weight class.
