“Put him to sleep in the first round” - Ilia Topuria issues a brutal warning for Charles Oliveira ahead of UFC 317 vacant lightweight title bout

UFC 317 has everyone’s eyes fixated, as fans will see their favourite fighters in action once again after a long hiatus involving weight class moves and multiple rounds of back-and-forth negotiations to finalise the bout.

Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will now be facing former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title. While Oliveira is on a mission to reclaim the championship belt, Topuria has his sights set on achieving two-weight championship status and issues a brutal warning for the former lightweight.

Ilia Topuria acknowledges Charles Oliveira’s fighting abilities while being confident about his own set of skills, aims for a finish in first round itself

After winning the featherweight championship belt against Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria’s last bout was against Max Holloway, in which the Georgian fighter retained his title.

Having defended his title, the fighter announced his move up to the lightweight division in February 2025, and since then, Topuria started calling out Islam Makhachev, the then-lightweight champion, for a title bout, but was met with no response.

Makhachev seemingly was not much interested in facing Topuria and instead wanted to move up the weight category. Post UFC 315, where Belal Muhammad lost his title to Jack Della Maddalena, Makhachev, too, vacated his title and shifted to the welterweight division for a direct title shot.

Even though the shakeup across the division killed the expectations for a highly anticipated bout between Topuria and Makhachev, El Matador has now been placed against another strong lightweight contender and former champion of the division, Charles Oliveira.Oliveira won three out of his last five bouts, one of which was a title loss to Makhachev. Despite this, he is known for his striking abilities and submission techniques.

Trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the fighter has even knocked out some of the greatest contenders of the division, including Michael Chandler and Beneil Dariush. While both fighters are preparing for the upcoming bout with their respective aims set, Topuria acknowledges the abilities of the former lightweight champion, while also believing that a guaranteed win awaits the former featherweight. In a recent interview, the fighter stated, “Charles is a great fighter.

I'd say he's a legendary fighter, one of the few still active in the UFC.”

He further continued, “But the truth is that his style fits perfectly with mine, to put him to sleep in the first round because he has no mobility, he doesn't move.”Also read: Kamaru Usman stuns audience with a brutal take on former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad ahead of the former’s UFC Atlanta showdownEver since losing the title to Makhachev, Oliveira did not get a title shot despite the fact that he had defended it twice after winning it against Michael Chandler at UFC 262. This makes the upcoming bout crucial for the fighter to establish his prominence once again within the division.