Ilia Topuria Vacates Title, Volkanovski-Lopes Fight for Belt; UFC 315 Card Revealed

After winning the UFC featherweight title last year and successfully defending it in October, Ilia Topuria will vacate the undisputed title.

UFC President Dana White announced Wednesday that Topuria plans to move up to the lightweight division. With Topuria giving up the title, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes will fight to be the new featherweight champion at UFC 314 in Miami on April 12.

The UFC also revealed that the card for UFC 315 in May will feature two title fights. The first will be between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena for the world welterweight title and the other between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot for the world flyweight championship.

The UFC also announced Wednesday that Leon Edwards will take on Sean Brady in a welterweight bout at UFC London next month.

The card at UFC 314 will also feature former two-division Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull, who will make his UFC debut against Yair Rodriguez.

Here's a look at the full card for UFC 314:

Topuria claimed the featherweight title just over a year ago when he defeated Volkanovski at UFC 298. Later in 2024, he beat Max Holloway at UFC 308 to defend the title.

According to Uncrowned's Drake Riggs, White said that Topuria "feels as if he cemented his legacy at 145 pounds and his body can no longer make the featherweight limit."

With the featherweight title vacated, Topuria will begin his journey in the lightweight division, where Islam Makhachev holds the crown.

Topuria moving on from the division gives Volkanovski a chance to reclaim the featherweight title. He won the title in 2019 and defended it four times before losing to Topuria. Lopes, who made his UFC debut in 2023, has never held the featherweight title and will get his first chance to compete for the championship when he faces Volkanovski.

At UFC 315, Muhammad will have the first chance to defend his welterweight title. He won the welterweight championship last summer when he defeated Edwards. Della Maddalena, meanwhile, will compete for the welterweight championship for the first time in his career.

Shevchenko lost the flyweight title in 2023 but reclaimed it back in September 2024 when she beat Alexa Grasso. She will be defending the title for the first time against Fiorot, who will be competing in her first UFC championship match.

Edwards' fight against Brady will be his first since losing his welterweight championship to Muhammad last year. Brady is coming off back-to-back wins against Kelvin Gastelum and Gilbert Burns.