Ilia Topuria doesn’t expect Charles Oliveira to go the distance with him at UFC 317.
“El Matador” has a chance to become a two-division UFC champion when he fights Oliveira in the main event of the June 28 pay-per-view, which takes place at the conclusion of International Fight Week in Las Vegas. The undefeated Topuria voluntarily vacated his featherweight title following a pair of title fight wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, and though he won’t be fighting Pound-for-Pound No. 1 Islam Makhachev —similarly vacating his lightweight title to challenge welterweight champion Jack Maddalena— claiming a second belt is Topuria’s top priority.
On Tuesday, Topuria shared a short clip of his training accompanied by a caption reading, “What do you prefer, submitting him or knocking him out?” suggesting he expects to finish Oliveira to become lightweight champion.
Topuria’s boast is not without merit, as he has been one of the most exciting finishers in MMA these past few years. He has gone to a decision just twice in eight UFC appearances, and his past two wins both made history. To date, Topuria is the only fighter to defeat Alexander Volkanovski in a 145-pound bout and the only fighter to finish Max Holloway via knockout.
He also has more wins by submission (8) than by KO/TKO (6), though seven of his submission victories took place before his UFC debut.
In Oliveira, Topuria finds himself facing an equally dangerous dual threat. “Do Bronx” is the owner of 10 KOs/TKOs and 21 submissions in his 46-fight career, and he holds the record for the most finishes (20) and submissions (16) in UFC history. He has gone the distance in his past two outings, most recently defeating Michael Chandler by decision at UFC 309 to bounce back from a narrow split decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan.
UFC 317 is headlined by Topuria vs. Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, with flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja going for his fourth consecutive defense in the co-main event when he faces Kai Kara-France.
