Ilia Topuria is heavily favored to become the UFC’s next two-division world champ.
Earlier this week, UFC CEO Dana White announced Islam Makhachev is vacating the lightweight title to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title later this year, and that Topuria will face former champ Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 317 on June 28 in Las Vegas.
According to FanDuel, Topuria opened as a massive -400 favorite to become the next UFC lightweight champ. The comeback on Oliveira is +285.
That gives Topuria an 80 percent chance of winning per implied odds. A $100 bet on Topuria yields a return of $125, while the same bet on Oliveira yields $385.
Topuria vacated his featherweight title this past February after knocking out Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308 in October in his lone title defense. “El Matador” captured the championship with a devastating knockout of Alexander Volkanovski eight months prior at UFC 298. Topuria looks to win a second divisional title in just his ninth octagon appearance.
Oliveira has the opportunity to become a two-time lightweight champion. “Du Bronx” captured the title with a stoppage win over Michael Chandler in May 2021 at UFC 262, and then stopped Dustin Poirier in December 2021 at UFC 269. Oliveira was later stripped of his title after missing weight for a defense against Justin Gaethje (he went on to defeat Gaethje, but was not eligible to regain his belt), and was finished by Makhachev at UFC 280 for a vacant title.
Since then, Oliveira is 2-1 in the octagon with a second win over Chandler, a stoppage of Beneil Dariush, and a decision loss to Arman Tsarukyan.
