The annual pay-per-view event of the UFC's International Fight Week continues to take hits.
UFC 317 includes the coronation of a new lightweight champion as a former featherweight title holder Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira Clash in the main event. Islam Makhachev will leave the UFC light weight championship for a switch to Welterweight and is expected to compete against Jack della Maddalena later this year.
The booking of UFC 317 was not announced until last month, because Makhachev thought about his next step while he saw the loss of Belal Muhammad against Maddalena on UFC 315. After Maddalena Muhammad defeated through a unanimous decision, Makhachev gave the clarity to the Welterweight Division.
Despite the UFC 317 fanfare on 28 June, the map lost its second fight in a week, as reported on Tuesday.
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UFC 317 takes a big hit just a few days before International Fight Week PPV
A middleweight matchup between Paulo Costa and Roman Kopylov, two of the most dangerous strikers of the division, was booked to feed the UFC 317 card. But according to reports, Costa is vs. Kopylov removed for unknown reasons from the upcoming pay-per-view.
MMA journalist Robert Tellez was the first to report the news of the cancellation of Costa versus Kopylov.
Damon Martin from MMA Fighting later reported that Costa vs. Kopylov on July 19 in New Orleans is being again planned for UFC 318. The map is at the head of Dustin Poirier's pension fight against BMF title holder Max Holloway.
It is unlikely that the UFC will look to book a daily cancellation period to give UFC 317 a boost after a heavyweight matchup between Justin Tafa and Jhonata Diniz was drawn due to a Tafa injury. It is uncertain whether the matchmakers will find a replacement opponent to prevent Diniz.
Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov resist for UFC 318 in New Orleans
On the other hand, Costa vs. wears. Kopylov next month at a stacked map on UFC 318 in New Orleans. It is expected that it will be the last fight of Poirier's career, because he wants to earn the BMF title before hanging the gloves.
Poirier and Holloway fought twice before in their career, with Poirier gaining the victory in both fights. The two stars recently fought the most for the interim light weight title at UFC 236.
UFC 318 is the long -awaited return of promotion to New Orleans after an interruption of several years. The last UFC card in New Orleans was organized in 2015, with a main event between Tim Boetsch and Dan Henderson.
Costa has not fought anymore since a split loss of decision for Sean Strickland on UFC 302. He has lost three of his last four fights in general.