In under a month’s time, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira will face off in a huge vacant lightweight title fight on International Fight Week.
Following Islam Makhachev’s shock lightweight title vacation, Dana White announced that Ilia Topuria will take on Charles Oliveira for the vacant strap in the UFC 317 main event on International Fight Week.
Ahead of their blockbuster meeting, Topuria has made a huge change to his fight camp, parting ways with his longtime coaches, the Climent brothers.
And with that, the Spaniard has been offered some help by boxing legend, Roy Jones Jr, who has offered to join his camp and be his boxing trainer.
Topuria asks fans to decide Oliveira’s fate at UFC 317
‘El Matador’ is widely considered to be the best boxer in the UFC after scoring back-to-back knockout wins over both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
Topuria has always been one of the most confident fighters of the new generation, having predicted some of his knockout wins on previous occasions.
The 28-year-old recently shared a video of him practicing some boxing combinations on the pads with his trainer, which led fans to predict another vicious knockout win.
Despite that, ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira is one of the best grapplers in UFC history and is assumed to have a big grappling advantage over the Spaniard.
However, in another video posted to his social media this Tuesday, Topuria has asked fans to decide the Brazilian’s fate, showcasing his grappling skills.
“What do you prefer, submitting him or knocking him out?” Topuria asked the fans to decide.
Sean O’Malley offers his thoughts on the UFC 317 main event
Before UFC 317, though, fans are fortunate enough to have a blockbuster UFC 316 card this coming Saturday, headlined by Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley 2.
O’Malley and Topuria have historically feuded online, and at one point it seemed as though the two would eventually clash inside the UFC Octagon.
However, ahead of his fight this Saturday, Sean O’Malley has offered his thoughts on the UFC 317 main event, explaining that his head and heart see a different outcome.
“That’s one where your heart is telling you Charles and your brain is telling you Ilia, that one’s a coin flip, can’t count Charles out, Ilia’s on an absolute tear. Charles does get hit and Ilia cracks that fight I’m very excited for,” O’Malley told ShakMMA.