After Belal Muhammad lost his welterweight title in the UFC 315 main event, it is now almost confirmed that Ilia Topuria will face Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 during International Fight Week on June 28. Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev will vacate his lightweight title and move up to welterweight for a double-championship run.
However, neither of these announcements has been made official yet. Dana White remains silent, despite fans eagerly awaiting updates for International Fight Week. To calm everyone down, David Shaw, UFC’s Senior Vice President of International and Content, has teased a possible announcement timeline.
Senior Executive Reveals Possible Timeline for When Dana White Will Speak About UFC 317
Everyone has a good idea of what the main event will be for International Fight Week. But fans are still waiting for official confirmation from Dana White. In the world of MMA, nothing feels real until the UFC boss makes it official. And with the UFC’s history of last-minute surprises, fans know not to assume anything just yet.
Before UFC 315 wrapped up, there were many rumors about which fight would headline the summer event. But Belal Muhammad’s loss to Jack Della Maddalena changed everything. That outcome made things clearer. After the fight, Islam Makhachev confirmed that he plans to move up to 170 pounds to face Della Maddalena for the welterweight title.
Surprisingly, Dana White was nowhere to be seen at the post-fight press conference. Instead, UFC Senior Executive Dave Shaw stepped in to answer questions. When asked about the International Fight Week announcement, Shaw didn’t have anything official to share.
However, he did say, “I can give you the standard, you know, wait till Tuesday. Listen, Dana talked about it on the press conference Thursday, there are a few different scenarios he laid out. I don’t know the decision is. But you can expect to hear more this week.”
Della Maddalena, now the new welterweight champ, also confirmed that he welcomes the “beautiful challenge” of facing Makhachev. Both Dana White and Islam Makhachev have previously expressed interest in this scenario if Della Maddalena emerged victorious, and now, here we are.
So, unless Dana White has other plans in mind, fans can expect an official announcement soon, very likely by Thursday.
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