(Photo: BBC, UFC)
Ilia Topuria, the undefeated FORMER Featherweight champion with a 17-0 Pro record is moving up to the Lightweight Division. He will face fan favourite Charles Olivera for the now Vacant Lightweight title due to FORMER champ Islam Makhachev is also moving up he is moving up to the Welterweight Division. Dana White announced yesterday that Topuria will take on Olivera on June 28th in Vegas for the vacant title. Topuria looks to make a shortlist of the rare 2 division champ in the UFC, and he is trying to be the second Featherweight to win a title at Lightweight since the notorious Connor McGregor.
Another bout which has not been announced yet but looks like will definitely take place in the future is Islam Makhachev vs Jack Della Maddalena or (JDM for short .https://x.com/BleacherReport/status/1922419967829393665
JDM is coming off an impressive win where he became World Champion against champion Belal Muhammad. JDM actually started his Pro MMA career 0-2 but since that he has gone on a 18 fight win streak and taken the MMA scene by storm. His Rumoured bout against Makhachev wont be easy though Islam is also on a winning streak of his own at 15 wins in a row he does face a new challenge of moving up to Welterweight but his wrestling prowess and underrated striking really make him a tough opponent for JDM.
The last fight that did officially get announced today that sees Dricus Du Plessis defend his Middleweight title against the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev. This fight will take place August 16th at the United Center in Chicago. There will be no home fight advantage here for the title holder or the title challanger. Du Plessis who captured the title against Sean Strickland is set to make his 3rd title defence in the summer. His Awkward style of fighting will make it a tough read for Khamzat if we get to point where striking matters in the fight. Du Plessis has not defended his title against a take down artist like Khamzat. Everyone knows Khamzats plan but no one has been able to stop it yet the only person who really had a close fight with him was Kamaru Usman who moved up to Middleweight on short notice to take the fight. There are a lot of questions still left to be answered coming into this fight like how good is Du Plessis take down defence against a elite wrestler? Or how good is Khamzats gas tank i do not have those answers for now, but what I can tell you is that its gonna be an exciting summer for combat sports.