In the official announcement given by UFC, Islam Makhachev will abandon the Lightweight weighing championship belt. He is about to move to the Welterweight weight. The Russian boxer will be ranked with the new King Jack Della Maddalena at an event that took place in the middle or at the end of 2025.
In addition to the Islam Makhachev's belt, UFC also immediately organized a new belt match in the Lightweight weight class. The boxers chosen for this talent screen are Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira. Both will play at the UFC 317 event, taking place at the end of June in Nevada, USA.
In the past, Charles Oliveira once held the UFC championship. He lost his belt when he was balanced before UFC 274, where Oliveira defeated Justin Gaethje. At the match against Islam Makhachev at the UFC 280 event, Oliverira lost. He used to have the opportunity to return to the belt but missed because of injury.
On the side of Ilia Topuria, he is considered the rising star of UFC. This boxer is holding the achievement table of Toan Thang in the weight of Featherweight. On the journey to occupy and protect the championship belt, Ilia Topuria defeated both monuments Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in just 1 year.
Also at the UFC 317 event, Alexandre Pantoja will enter the Flyweight Weight Championship Protection match. His opponent is Kai Kara-France. This is the fourth time Pantoja protects the championship in less than 2 years, since he defeated Brandon Moreno in July 2023.