Canada Denied Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 Main Event At UFC 297

Summary

• UFC have confirmed Volkanovski vs. Topuria will not headline UFC 297
• Dana White confirms Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 will not take place in Canada
• UFC have confirmed that the women’s bantamweight championship will be on the line

UFC 297 which is the first pay per view card for the UFC in 2024 is set to take place in Toronto, Canada on Jan 20, 2024. The UFC initially wanted the card to be headlined by UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski who was set to fight Ilia Topuria. However, this fight has been moved to UFC 298 and the UFC is looking for a new Main Event.

UFC 297 Main Event Not Confirmed

Over the weekend, multiple MMA publications reported that the UFC was looking to rebook the Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 which was initially scheduled to take place at UFC 294 in October but was cancelled after Oliveira injured himself.

 

Ali Abdelaziz, CEO of Dominance MMA and the manager of UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev took to X to rubbish these reports and called them fake news! Abdelaziz who is also the manager of Justin Gaethje used his social media platform to push for a fight between Makhachev and Gaethje instead!

Fake news @MAKHACHEVMMA fighting Charles Oliveira in January

— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) November 5, 2023

Charles Oliveira don’t deserve nothing @Justin_Gaethje next

— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) November 5, 2023

UFC President Dana White also confirmed that Makhachev vs. Oliveira 2 will not take place in Canada. Makhachev who made quick work of Volkanovski at UFC 294 has made it clear that he is willing to fight anyone that the UFC gives him. The UFC is yet to release an official statement and confirm the Main Event for UFC 297.

UFC Bantamweight Championship – Title Fight

The UFC have confirmed that the vacant bantamweight title in the women’s division will be on the line at UFC 297. Former champ Juliana Pena was expected to fight Raquel Pennington for the belt but had to pull out due to an injury. The UFC have now given that opportunity to Brazil’s Mayra Bueno Silva who will get her first title shot when she takes on veteran Pennington.

This 5 round championship fight will most likely be the co-Main Event but could be upgraded to the Main Event, if the UFC does not finalize a championship fight with Makhachev and Oliveira/ Gaethje.

UFC 297 will also have a number of other exciting fights on the card such as top featherweights Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev and a middleweight banger between Chris Curtis and Marc-Andre Barriault.