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UFC 317 PREVIEW: ‘El Matador’ chases lightweight glory; ‘The Cannibal’ looks for fourth defence

football23 June 2025 09:40| © Backpage TXT
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Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria © Getty Images

Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria will chase the Lightweight Championship, and Alexandre ‘The Cannibal’ Pantoja will look for a fourth successful defence of his Flyweight Championship, when UFC 317 is held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the morning of 29 June 2025.

 

 

The main event sees Topuria (16-0) make the step up to the 155 lb (70 kg) category to battle former division champion Charles Oliveira (35-10, 1 NC) for the Lightweight Championship (Islam Makhachev has vacated the belt in order to challenge for the Welterweight title).

Topuria won the Featherweight belt off Alexander Volkanovski in February 2024, and followed it up with a resounding defence against Max Holloway eight months later, before announcing his ambition to shift up a weight class.

Oliveira, who was last in action in November last year with a unanimous decision triumph over Michael Chandler, held the Lightweight belt from May 2021 to May 2022, when he was stripped of the title for missing weight in a Championship bout against Justin Gaethje.

The 35-year-old Brazilian insists that he did not lose his title in the Octagon, making him the ‘true’ champion of the division, and he has promised to knock out Topuria.

“It’s a great fight, he’s a great fighter,” said ‘Do Bronxs’ “But I don’t need to prove anything to anyone about who I am. This fight came at a huge opportunity. I will knock out this guy. That’s for real.”

In the co-main event, Pantoja (29-5) will take on Kai Kara-France (25-11, 1 NC) in defence of his Flyweight Championship. ‘The Cannibal’ has already put down challenges from Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg and Kai Asakura.

Kara-France will be fighting in his second title bout, having been stopped by Brandon Moreno for the vacant belt back in 2022, and he believes he is better mentally prepared this time around.

“I know that this is my time to do it – with age and maturity and experience,” said the New Zealander.

“I already fought for the belt before. I know what the pressure feels like. I know what the expectations are. So [I'm] just welcoming it, and this time around ready for it, and this time around not fighting with things that aren't going your way – just letting it all flow.

"That's where I'm at right now. I'm at a great place and ready to bring back another belt to [City Kickboxing]."

The rest of the main card features Brandon Royval v Joshua Van in the bantamweight division; a lightweight fight pits Beneil Dariush against Renato Moicano; and the bantamweight opener is Payton Talbott v Felipe Lima.

UFC 317 – Main card

- Main event: Vacant Lightweight Championship: Ilia Topuria v Charles Oliveira

- Co-main event: Flyweight Championship: Alexandre Pantoja v Kai Kara-France

- Flyweight: Brandon Royval v Joshua Van

- Lightweight: Beneil Dariush v Renato Moicano

- Bantamweight: Payton Talbott v Felipe Lima

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