Despite the high stakes at UFC 317, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira were pretty respectful towards each other during their first official face-off. During that brief moment, ‘El Matador’ showed his respect for the Brazilian, stating that he had to prove that he was the best. ‘Do Bronx’ acknowledged Topuria and confessed, “Yes, for our families.” Both of them promised to put on a great fight. It didn’t take long for the fighters’ desire for victory to reach their better halves. 

Victoria Brum, Charles Oliveira’s girlfriend, took to Instagram and shared a picture of herself sitting beside the former lightweight champion Oliveira cutting weight. In the caption, Brum lifted the Brazilian star’s spirits, writing, “We won the biggest war, beaten weight, you’re f—– up, you’re not the one they call you “enlightened” I love you I’m very proud of the man you are, let’s get your belt and take it where he should never have left, our champion ❤️.”

Around the same time, Brum shared her post, Topuria’s wife Giorgina Uzcátegui Badell dropped a cascade of pictures. The photos show her with her husband, Topuria, and their son, seemingly en route to the pre-fight press conference for UFC 317. The third slide features an image of the couple’s youngest child. And her message for ‘El Matador’? As powerful as the one Victoria Brum had for ‘Do Bronx’.

Badell captioned, “To my dear husband, What I’m going to tell you is not new to you, but simply a confirmation.  I want God to agree with me and continue to guide us to create an even better future together. Inspiring each other, our children and those around us. I love when you give your all to evolve, commit to be better and keep your faith no matter the difficulties. I am so proud of you! that you are my life partner, the one I chose to create a legacy with, my friend and husband. The most valuable gifts you give us are your integrity, courage, respect and your closeness to God.”

Additionally, she asserted that victory was already Topuria’s, further solidifying the confidence that ‘El Matador’ showed during the first face-off. Badell continued, “You have already reached the victory ♥️. I want to thank our team for believing in our vision and being a part of this story, bringing their professionalism, hard work and dedication. It was an unforgettable training camp, filled with revelation, unification and divine presence.” Badell ended her post by making a bold prediction — that her husband would be undefeated at the end of the bout: “17-0.”

Charles Oliveira has a lot of motivation for UFC 317, and most of it comes from his family’s support. However, the former featherweight champion seems to believe that promises to his family aren’t enough to get him the belt. The reason? Let’s find out!

Ilia Topuria disregards Charles Oliveira’s promise to his son

In the first episode of the UFC 317 Embedded Vlog series, Oliveira’s girlfriend revealed that he had promised his son, Dominick, that he would bring the lightweight belt back home. Brum said, ‘It’s a promise he made to Dom. Because he already won a belt for Tayla, and he will win another one for Dominick. And that promise will be kept.” However, Ilia Topuria doesn’t seem to regard that as a legitimate promise.

‘El Matador’ is confident as a lightweight. He didn’t have to go through as much of an extreme weight-cut process as Oliveira. This means that he may retain most of his energy prior to the battle at UFC 317. During his appearance on the Kairouz Bros YT channel, Topuria claimed, “That’s why I don’t like to promise to my kids those kind of things. He don’t have to involve his kids in professional things. Now he’s gonna have to break his heart.”

But, according to Charles Oliveira, his family is the biggest source of his success. His daughter, Tayla was the catalyst during his dominance in the UFC. After all, he went on an 11-fight win streak following her birth. He even knocked out Michael Chandler to win the lightweight belt at UFC 262. He then went on to beat Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje in two iconic title defenses. With the birth of his son, ‘Do Bronx’ hopes to create that magic again.

Needless to say, the battle is going to be a banger. Topuria aims to become a two-division champion, while Oliveira hopes to reclaim the lightweight title and become a two-time lightweight champion. But who will win such a tough matchup? We’ll find out on Saturday night.