Top-ranked contenders booked for UFC 317 during International Fight Week

Who will get their hand raised in this matchup between Top 10 fighters?

(Zuffa LLC)

A pair of ranked contenders will try and move closer towards a title shot when they square off at UFC 317 this summer.

This year’s International Fight week is scheduled to take place from June 25 through June 29 in Las Vegas, NV, and on that Saturday (June 28) the city’s T-Mobile Arena will host UFC 317.

Fans are still waiting for news on what fight will headline what should be a star-studded event, but now another pivotal matchup has been added to the undercard to go along with several other already-confirmed fights.

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Former UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria says he's in training camp to fight at UFC 317. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez Added To UFC 317

First reported by Marcel Dorff, UFC 317 will feature a battle between top-ranked women’s flyweight contenders Viviane Araujo and Tracy Cortez.

Rose Namajunas (red gloves) fights Tracy Cortez (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Ball Arena. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

A contract winner on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, Cortez began her time in the promotion with five-straight wins before she suffered a unanimous decision loss to two-time Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas in the main event of UFC Denver last year.

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The American will have a chance to climb from her current #10 spot in the women’s flyweight rankings at UFC 315 when she meets the #8-ranked Araujo, who ended Karine Silva's nine-fight win streak by unanimous decision in her most recent outing at UFC 309.

Viviane Araujo (red gloves) fights Karine Silva (blue gloves) in the Women’s Flyweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Women's Flyweight Title On The Line At UFC 315

A win for either Cortez or Araujo likely wouldn’t be enough to earn either woman a title shot, but it could potentially put them a fight away depending on the outcome of this weekend’s women’s flyweight title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot.

The two women are set to square off in the co-main event of UFC 315 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with Shevchenko kicking off her second reign as champion after reclaiming the belt from Alexa Grasso in their trilogy fight at UFC 306.

Alexa Grasso (red gloves) fights Valentina Shevchenko (blue gloves) during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at Sphere. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

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Grasso will also look to secure a fourth fight with Shevchenko or a matchup with Fiorot when she meets Natalia Silva on the main card of UFC 315, and it will be interesting to see how the winner of Cortez vs. Araujo fits into the women’s flyweight title picture after a UFC 317 card that currently looks like this:

• Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov

• Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape

• Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez

• Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber

• Jhonata Diniz vs. Justin Tafa

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