4 fighters who could be next in line for the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira at UFC 317

This weekend at UFC 317, Ilia Topuria will square off with Charles Oliveira in a huge fight. The winner will be crowned the new UFC lightweight champion.

The UFC's lightweight division has traditionally been stacked, and right now is no different - so who could be next in line for Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira?

Depending on who wins this weekend, there are a number of viable options, with some contenders definitely hoping the fight goes a certain way.

With that in mind, here are four fighters who could be next in line for the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira.

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#4. Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan

In recent years, the UFC has often selected a backup fighter for a big title fight, should something go wrong with the initial booking at the last moment.

For UFC 317's lightweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira, that backup fighter will be Arman Tsarukyan.

In many ways, Tsarukyan will probably be upset that he isn't part of the fight to begin with.

The Armenian is ranked at No.1 in the division - below only previous champion Islam Makhachev, who is moving to 170 pounds - and beat Oliveira last year. He's riding a four-fight win streak and is 9-2 in the octagon overall.

However, Tsarukyan also lost out on his shot at Makhachev earlier this year when he injured his back, and evidently, the promotion has used that as a reason to overlook him here.

The fact that he's being used as the backup fighter, though, suggests he still may be at the front of the queue for the winner of Topuria vs. Oliveira.

If 'Do Bronx' wins on Saturday, then the chances of Tsarukyan being next in line will increase further, thanks to the Armenian's previous win over Oliveira.

Should Topuria win, that might change as 'El Matador' may prefer a bigger-name opponent. For now, though, Tsarukyan feels like the most likely choice.

#3. Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje

Prior to Islam Makhachev making the call to relinquish his lightweight title and move up to 170 pounds, there was a lot of talk about him defending his crown against Justin Gaethje.

With Makhachev now gone, though, any idea of Gaethje receiving a title shot has vanished too, and reportedly, it hasn't sat well with him.

According to a recent interview with his manager, 'The Highlight' is mooting retirement if his next fight isn't for the title.

So could the UFC give into his demands and match him with the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira?

On one hand, it could make sense. Gaethje is ranked at No.3, below only Arman Tsarukyan and Oliveira, he's 3-1 in his last four fights and impressed in his recent win over Rafael Fiziev.

On the other hand, 'The Highlight' was knocked out badly by Max Holloway last year, and already lost to Oliveira in 2022. More to the point, Dana White and company don't tend to react well when their fighters make demands.

With that said, if Topuria wins this weekend, Gaethje would probably be the biggest-name opponent he could face next, and a fight between the two could be remarkably exciting too.

Therefore, 'The Highlight' will likely be rooting for 'El Matador' at UFC 317.

#2. Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira vs. Max Holloway

UFC 318, which is set to go down in July, will be headlined by a fight for the 'BMF' title between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier.

The fight will mark Poirier's final trip to the octagon, and with all things considered, it's likely Holloway will be favored to win.

If 'Blessed' pulls off the victory, then could he lay claim to a shot at the new UFC lightweight champion?

In this case, of course, there's a major caveat. Holloway was defeated by Ilia Topuria in the latter part of 2024, with the Hawaiian suffering the first knockout of his career in the process.

Therefore, if 'El Matador' wins the title this weekend, there's no way 'Blessed' will claim the next title shot, even if he were to literally decapitate Poirier in the octagon.

If Charles Oliveira were to become the new champion, though, that might change. A win for Holloway over Poirier would be as good as any other in the lightweight division, and 'Blessed' also beat Justin Gaethje last year.

To add to this, the Hawaiian's first bout with 'Do Bronx', which took place a decade ago, ended in controversial fashion, and there would definitely be an appetite for a rematch.

Therefore, if Holloway wants to become lightweight champion, he not only needs to beat Poirier next month - he probably needs Oliveira to win this weekend, too.

#1. Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira vs. Paddy Pimblett

The wild card title contender at 155 pounds right now could be Paddy Pimblett.

'The Baddy' picked up the biggest win of his career in April when he stopped Michael Chandler after dominating the former Bellator champ.

The win was Pimblett's seventh in the UFC. In all honesty, the UK favorite probably should be ranked higher than his current spot of No.8, particularly when you consider that Dan Hooker and Mateusz Gamrot are somehow above him.

So could Pimblett jump the queue to challenge the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title?

It's definitely possible. 'The Baddy' has an existing feud with Topuria dating back to a confrontation in 2022, and 'El Matador' has stated that he'd love to face the British fighter - but only if he wins one more fight.

Oliveira hasn't mentioned Pimblett, but then 'Do Bronx' rarely calls out future opponents anyway.

Overall, though, 'The Baddy' is one of the UFC's fastest-rising stars right now, and a fight between he and Topuria in particular could be genuinely huge.

Therefore, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him matched with a stylistically good opponent in the next few months, with the idea being to set him up for a title shot next year.

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Edited by C. Naik