Ilia Topuria vows to make Charles Oliveira suffer for Islam Makhachev’s absence

Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is all set to face former lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira in a 155-pound title fight at UFC 317 during the International Fight Week in June. Ahead of their fight, Topuria has promised to make Oliveira suffer after Islam Makhachev vacated the lightweight title and moved up to the welterweight division.

Notably, Makhachev relinquished the belt to challenge new UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. For months, the UFC was waiting on Makhachev to decide between defending his 155-pound title against Topuria or moving up to 170 pounds.

Now that his friend, Belal Muhammad, is no longer the welterweight champion after UFC 315 last weekend, it was easier for Islam Makhachev to make the decision to drop the lightweight throne.

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In response to the Dagestani champion leaving the lightweight division, Ilia Topuria vows to make Charles Oliveira feel the brunt of his frustration come UFC 317. In an interview with Alvaro Colmenero, he said:

“First of all, I’d like to thank Charles for accepting the challenge. Something Islam didn’t do, and he has to pay the price for Islam. Honestly, I feel really sorry for Charles, but at the end of the day, it’s my job.”

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below:

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Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev get into a war of words after UFC 317 fight announcement

Unsurprisingly, Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev got into a heated exchange on social media after the main event of UFC 317 was announced. Topuria let go of his belt for the promise of facing the lightweight champion in his first fight in the division. Largely expecting that he'll face Makhachev for gold, 'La Leyenda' showed his disappointment by accusing the Dagestani of ducking him.

Makhachev, however, insists that Topuria hasn't proven himself at lightweight yet, which is the reason why he refused to face him. In a scathing tweet, Makhachev wrote:

"Difference between me and you, that I cleaned top list in my division, moved to next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive 5-9 wins in FW division. You are nobody in LW division, just a big mouth from Spain with nice haircut. Go get one W, and we can talk boy."

Check out Islam Makhachev's comments below:

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Not to be outgunned online, Ilia Topuria replied to the post:

"The difference between you and me is that I am a man and you are a coward. I speak and fight. you talk and hide. Run away far, leaving no trace."

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below:

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Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi