Ilia Topuria may be moving up from 145 pounds to challenge Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title tomorrow night (Sat., June 28, 2025) at UFC 317 LIVE on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “El Matador” sure looks like he belongs in the division.
Earlier this year, Topuria announced that he’d be vacating his UFC featherweight championship to make a run in UFC’s jam-packed lightweight division. The undefeated fighter was hoping to land a superfight with then champion Islam Makhachev, but Makhachev has since departed the division to move up to welterweight. That’s why Topuria is fighting “do Bronx” this weekend atop UFC 317’s PPV card.
While Topuria has competed at 155 pounds before — defeating Jai Herbert via knockout at UFC London back in 2022 — he’s never had this amount of time to bulk up and really dig his heels in. Topuria has been readying himself for about four months now with the plan to never go back down to 145 pounds. This has allowed “El Matador” to really grow into his lightweight frame.
Earlier this week, Topuria looked noticeably larger during his UFC 317 media day photoshoot. Some fans have scoffed at Topuria’s lack of height for the UFC’s lightweight division, but he still looked like a natural 155-pound fighter. Check it out below:
On Friday, Topuria stepped on stage for UFC 317’s early weigh ins and once again looked bigger. It’s unknown at this time how much the former featherweight will weigh when he steps inside the Octagon with Oliveira for Saturday’s main event, but “do Bronx” fans should be just a little bit more nervous.
Check out the photo comparison below, which shows featherweight Topuria on the top and lightweight Topuria on the bottom:
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CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE-DIP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., June 28, 2025, with a championship doubleheader headlining UFC 317 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of International Fight Week. In UFC 317’s PPV main event, former Featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, challenges ex-Lightweight titleholder, Charles Oliveira, for Islam Makhachev’s vacated 155-pound title in a high-stakes, five-round showdown. UFC 317’s PPV co-main event features Flyweight kingpin, Alexandre Pantoja,defending his 125-pound belt against No. 4-seeded contender, Kai Kara-France, in an electrifying five-round rematch. UFC 317 will also showcase a Lightweight bout between Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano, as well as a short-notice Flyweight clash pitting Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van, and much more! UFC 317’s start time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard), and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).
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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 317 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 317 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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