UFC 317 lineup finalized ahead of International Fight Week

The UFC has finally confirmed its lineup for the anticipated UFC 317 pay-per-view event set to cap off International Fight Week in Las Vegas this coming weekend.

The main and co-main events were announced earlier in the year, as were a handful of other matchups, but the organization officially finalized the card by announcing additional matchups on Sunday, just six days ahead of the event. 

Former undisputed featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is moving up to lightweight to face the division’s former champion, Charles Oliveira, in the main event on June 28 at the T-Mobile Arena. The pair will be competing for the vacant lightweight title after Islam Makhachev announced he is vacating the belt and moving up to pursue the welterweight title currently held by Jack Della Maddalena.

Men’s flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja will look for his fourth consecutive title defence when he faces challenger Kai Kara-France in the co-main event. This 125-pound contest is a rematch of an exhibition bout Pantoja won back when the two met in 2016 on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions.

Veteran lightweights Beneil Dariush and Renato Moicano were rebooked for UFC 317 after their scheduled UFC 311 bout fell apart at the last minute in January when Moicano was given a short-notice title shot against Makhachev to fill in for Arman Tsarukyan, who withdrew from his scheduled championship opportunity on the eve of that event with a back injury.

Standout flyweight prospect Joshua Van is getting a quick turnaround following his thrilling UFC 316 victory. Van will step across from No. 1-ranked flyweight contender Brandon Royval, who had been scheduled to face Manel Kape before Kape withdrew after sustaining a broken foot in training.

Rounding out the main card is an exciting bantamweight matchup between Payton Talbott and Felipe Lima, a late addition to the card. Talbott is looking to bounce back from his first pro loss after being upset by Raoni Barcelos in January. Lima has won 14 consecutive bouts since dropping his pro debut in 2015 when he was still a teenager. Lima is 2-0 in the UFC, with wins over Muhammad Naimov and Miles Johns.

Jacobe Smith is one of the most highly regarded newer UFC signees after earning a contract in October on Dana White’s Contender Series and winning his UFC debut in January with an 83-second knockout. Smith will test himself against 18-fight UFC veteran Niko Price on the preliminary card.

Two dark horse contenders for Fight of the Night will take place on the prelims as Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev at lightweight and Hyder Amil vs. Jose Delgado at featherweight were also added to the card.

Heavyweight Jhonata Diniz was originally slated to face Justin Tafa on the main card, however, Tafa withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by 7-0 UFC newcomer Alvin Hines.

A previously announced middleweight contest between Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov was moved to July’s UFC 318 card in New Orleans for undisclosed reasons.

Below is a look at the updated UFC 317 card and its projected bout order…

MAIN CARD

-- Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

-- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France

-- Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van

-- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano

-- Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues

-- Hyder Amil vs. Jose Delgado

-- Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez

-- Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

-- Sedriques Dumas vs. Jackson McVey

-- Niko Price vs. Jacobe Smith

-- Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines