Ilia Topuria will face Charles Oliveira for the light-weight title at UFC 317 in Las Vegas on 28 June.
Spain’s Topuria, 28, has the possibility to change into a two-division champion after vacating his featherweight belt earlier this 12 months to maneuver up a division.
“I will be the champion of the light-weight division,” Topuria mentioned. “Charles, my apologies upfront, I am simply combating for my goals.”
Within the co-main occasion, Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight title in opposition to New Zealander Kai Kara-France.
The bout for the light-weight belt has been made after Russia’s Islam Makhachev mentioned he can be transferring as much as welterweight to problem new champion Jack Della Maddalena, who beat Belal Muhammad at UFC 316 last week.
“It is unlucky that Makhachev ran away,” Topuria mentioned, in response to Makhachev vacating his title.
Following Australian Della Maddalena’s victory in Montreal, Makhachev mentioned “time to change into a double champion”.
Topuria has gained the primary 16 fights of his profession and has fought as soon as earlier than at light-weight within the UFC, stopping Englishman Jai Herbert in 2022.
His previous 4 fights at featherweight included assertion wins over UFC greats Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway final 12 months.
Oliveira is a veteran and fan-favourite within the promotion who holds the report for essentially the most finishes in UFC historical past, with 20.
The Brazilian, 35, is a former champion and combating in a title struggle for the primary time since defeat by Makhachev in 2022.
