There are a pair of title fights at the top of the UFC 317 card that was announced Tuesday and will highlight International Fight Week at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 28. The headliner will feature Ilia Topuria, the unbeaten rising star who vacated his featherweight belt last month to move up and fight for the 155-pound strap.

Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will take on former lightweight kingpin Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira for the title that was just vacated by Islam Makhachev, who defeated Oliveira to win the belt at UFC 280 on Oct. 22 of 2022.

The 28-year-old Topuria took the 145-pound loop by storm beginning with his Octagon debut at UFC Abu Dhabi on Oct. 11 of 2020 when he beat Youssef Zalal. Since then, ‘El Matador’ has finished six of his last seven opponents.

After scoring three consecutive knockout wins, Topuria faced Bryce ‘Thug Nasty’ Mitchell in a battle of unbeatens at UFC 282. The native of Spain garnered a Performance of the Night bonus when he captured a second-round submission victory over Mitchell via arm-triangle choke.

Next, Topuria was given his first main event slot at UFC Jacksonville two summers ago vs. Josh Emmett. He dominated Emmett for five rounds in a unanimous-decision triumph (50-44, 50-42, 49-45).

The win over Emmett earned Topuria a title shot vs. Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 of 2024. He beat Volk to win the belt via second-round KO in Anaheim.

In his first and only title defense, Topuria beat Max Holloway by third-round KO at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi this past October.

Topuria wasted no time in reaching out to Oliveira yesterday via his X account. He said, “On June 28, another dream will come true. I’ll be the champion of the lightweight division. Charles, my apologies in advance… I’m just fighting for my dreams. It’s unfortunate that Makhachev ran away. 17-0.”

FanDuel opened Topuria as a -295 favorite early this morning, but that number has moved up to -400. Oliveira (35-10-0-1 MMA, 23-10-0-1 UFC) is +285 on the comeback.

DraftKings opened Topuria as a -380 ‘chalk’ with Oliveria at +300 underdog odds. BetRivers has Topuria listed at -420, while Oliveira is a +310 ‘dog.

The 35-year-old Oliveira bounced back from his loss to Makhachev by starching Beneil Dariush with a first-round KO at UFC 289 in June of 2023. The Brazilian earned his 13th Performance of the Night bonus for an extra $50,000.

The win set up a rematch with Makhachev at UFC 294, but Oliveira had to withdraw from the bout due to a cut over his eye less than two weeks out. In his next appearance, he lost a split decision to Arman Tsarukyan (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) at UFC 300 in a title eliminator showdown.

In his last Octagon appearance this past November in the UFC 309 co-main event, Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler via UD (49-46, 49-46, 49-45) in the show’s Fight of the Night.

Oliveira is one of the promotion’s all-time greats. He owns the most POTN bonuses in UFC history, the most career finishes (20), the most fight-night bonuses (20), the most submissions (16) and is tied for the second-most career wins (23 with Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski).

In the UFC 317 co-main event, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (29-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) will try to extend his seven-fight winning streak against Kai Kara-France. FanDuel opened Pantoja as a -215 favorite, while Kara-France is a +164 underdog.

BetRivers has Pantoja at -265 with Kara-France at +205, and DraftKings has the champ as a -245 ‘chalk’ against the challenger from New Zealand, who is a +200 ‘dog.

The 35-year-old Pantoja beat Brandon Moreno via split decision (46-49, 48-47, 48-47) to win the 125-pound strap at UFC 290 in the summer of 2023. Since then, he’s successfully defended his belt with decision wins over Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg before submitting Kai Asakura in Round 2 at UFC 310 this past December.

The 32-year-old Kara-France (25-11-0-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) is off a first-round KO win over Erceg at UFC 305 last August. He’s 4-2 in his last six fights and has collected five fight-night bonuses in his last seven scraps.

Other announced fights on the card include a lightweight showdown between Renato Moicano and Dariush, a middleweight banger featuring Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov, a heavyweight match with Jhonata Diniz and Justin Tafa, a women’s flyweight bout between Tracy Cortez and Viviane Araujo, a middleweight contest featuring Jack Hermansson and Gregory Rodriguez and a flyweight scrap between Royval and Manuel Kape.

BetRivers opened Moicano as a -167 favorite with Dariush as a +133 underdog. Moicano had his four-fight winning streak snapped at UFC 311 when he was submitted by Makhachev at the 4:05 mark of the opening frame.

Since ripping off eight consecutive wins, Dariush has dropped back-to-back bouts by first-round KOs against Oliveira and Tsarukyan, who needed only 64 seconds in the UFC Austin headliner on Dec. 2 of 2023. The 36-year-old Dariush will enter the Octagon after a 19-month layoff.