Topuria wants UFC welterweight title shot if Makhachev wins

Ilia Topuria is hoping for a chance to become the first three-division champion in UFC history.

Topuria, the former featherweight champ, is scheduled to face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title in the UFC 317 main event next weekend in Las Vegas. He said Friday that he plans to lobby for a welterweight title shot if he beats Oliveira and Islam Makhachev dethrones 170-pound champ Jack Della Maddalena later this year.

"If Islam becomes the welterweight world champion, for sure I'm gonna push for that shot also, and I will move to the welterweight division," Topuria told reporters, including The Mac Life's Oscar Willis.

Topuria vacated the 145-pound title last December to move up to the lightweight division, with the hope of challenging Makhachev for a second belt. But Makhachev relinquished the 155-pound championship in May to pursue a welterweight title shot against Della Maddalena instead.

Should both men win their next fights, Topuria believes a highly anticipated matchup against Makhachev could come to fruition at either 155 or 170 pounds.

"We'll see how (Makhachev) does in the welterweight division," Topuria said. "If he wins the title, I win the title in the lightweight division, maybe I move up or he comes down to the lightweight division and we have the fight that everyone wants to see."

For now, Topuria's focus is on Oliveira, another former lightweight champion. Oliveira is getting his first title shot since losing to Makhachev in a vacant title bout at UFC 280 in October 2022. The Brazilian is coming off a unanimous decision win over Michael Chandler last November and is 2-1 in his last three Octagon appearances.

Topuria, 28, said he thinks he'll have no problem knocking Oliveira out.

"If I hurt him, he's not gonna have the chance to come back," Topuria said. "Because my power is completely different."