Former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will have the opportunity to become a two-time titleholder when he takes on former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria for the vacant 155-pound title on June 28.
Oliveira (35-10, 1 NC) and Topuria (16-0) meet in the UFC 317 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during the UFC’s annual International Fight Week.
“It’s a great fight. He’s a great fighter, but I don’t need to prove anything to anyone about who I am, what I’ve done, what I’ve done in the fight business. The fight came at a huge opportunity. I will knockout this guy. That’s for real,” Oliveira told Full Violence.
“I know he’s a guy who hits hard, but he’s talking about the lightweight category, the harder category. I fought against Justin Gaethje and everyone said he was the guy who hit harder and when I did, he went down,” continued Oliveira. “I believe in the power of fire in the hands that I have, so let’s wait. On the 28th, we’ll meet.”
Topuria relinquished the 145-pound championship to pursue a championship in the lightweight division. He’ll enter the fight with Oliveira coming off knockout wins over featherweight greats Alexander Volkanvoski and Max Holloway.
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