Ilia Topuria may be moving up from 145 pounds to challenge Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title tomorrow night (Sat., June 28, 2025) at UFC 317 LIVE on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “El Matador” sure looks like he belongs in the division.
vacating his UFC featherweight championship to make a run in UFC’s jam-packed lightweight division. The undefeated fighter was hoping to land a superfight with then champion Islam Makhachev, but Makhachev has since departed the division to move up to welterweight. That’s why Topuria is fighting “do Bronx” this weekend atop UFC 317’s PPV card.
UFC 317’s early weigh ins and once again looked bigger. It’s unknown at this time how much the former featherweight will weigh when he steps inside the Octagon with Oliveira for Saturday’s main event, but “do Bronx” fans should be just a little bit more nervous.
Check out the photo comparison below, which shows featherweight Topuria on the top and lightweight Topuria on the bottom:
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