UFC 317 arrives this weekend, capping off the promotion’s annual International Fight Week, which this year included the debut of UFC BJJ, plus the usual Hall of Fame ceremony and UFC X fan expo.
A different sort of main event, meanwhile, awaited fight fans on Saturday. Islam Makhachev had vacated his 155lb title to facilitate a move to welterweight, while Ilia Topuria had done the same at featherweight, looking to claim gold at lightweight. Topuria was set to get his chance this Saturday as he was booked opposite Charles Oliveira for the now-vacant lightweight belt.
A win for Topuria would put him in elite company, alongside names like Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre. Yet the Georgian-Spanish Topuria was vocal all week about pursuing a third title, and following Makhachev to welterweight at some point. That would be a feat unparalleled in UFC history, but first, he’d need to get by the always dangerous “Do Bronx” Oliveira. The UFC‘s submissions leader and a former lightweight champion himself, Oliveira was entering the fight off a win over Michael Chandler.
Ahead of UFC 317 on Saturday, the key players from the card assembled for the traditional pre-fight press conference. A live stream of the proceedings is available above, starting at 6PM ET, 3PM ET.
