A significant shift in the UFC landscape has been announced. Islam Makhachev is reportedly vacating his lightweight championship with intentions to move up to the welterweight division to challenge the new champion, Jack Della Maddalena. This decision directly leads to the lightweight belt being left vacant, setting the stage for Ilia Topuria to square off against Charles Oliveira for the title at UFC 317.
These highly anticipated matchups were part of a wave of major announcements made by UFC CEO Dana White recently. The news also included setting a date and location for the clash between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, which is scheduled to happen at UFC 319 in Chicago. Analysts from MMA Fighting have provided their reaction and analysis to all the significant fight news revealed this past Tuesday.
