At the moment, it remains unclear which title fight — or fights —
will top the lineup for UFC 317
on International Fight Week.
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After Magomed
Ankalaev stated that he doesn’t want to wait until October in
Abu Dhabi for a rematch with Alex
Pereira, speculation began that the light heavyweight rematch
could serve as the main event for that card.
Meanwhile, Charles
Oliveira has thrown his hat into the ring for another potential
featured bout at UFC 317. Recently, reigning lightweight champ
Islam
Makhachev indicated that former 145-pound king Ilia
Topuria should win one fight against a contender before
receiving a title shot in the new weight class. Meanwhile, the
Georgian-Spaniard issued a scathing response to Oliveira after “do
Bronx” stated he didn’t see Topuria as a big fight.
“You have 10 losses: [five] by knockout, [four] by submission, and
[one] by decision. You are the contender, while I am the champion,
the father of the entire division,” Topuria wrote on X. “I haven’t
come here to ask anything. Here, I am the one in charge.”
On Sunday, Oliveira seemingly replied to Topuria while targeting a
championship fight in a video on his Instagram Stories.
“There are many people talking a lot in the UFC,” Oliveira said.
“Concerning history in the UFC, I´m the one who can talk. I’m
fighting in UFC for 15 years, with the record of bonuses and
submissions. I´m the one who broke all the records.
“I want to fight on International Fight Week… Dana [White], Sean
Shelby, Hunter [Campbell], let’s make it happen. I want this fight.
I want this belt. Makhachev is talking a lot. He wants that fight.
I´m sure it will be a great war. So UFC let’s make it happen.”