Topuria faced former lightweight champion Oliveira in the main event of UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and immediately set to work on trying to KO the Brazilian. But Oliveira proved a tricky proposition early on as he tied up the Spanish-Georgian and forced the action against the fence. But when Oliveira attempted to take the action to the mat, it was Topuria who ended up on top.
Topuria looked to transition to an advantageous position, but Oliveira grabbed a leg and came close to locking up a heel hook. Topuria managed to escape the danger and return to the feet, and once the action resumed in the stand-up, the former featherweight champion lined up Oliveira and knocked him out cold with a stunning two-punch combination.
It meant that Topuria, who had vacated his featherweight title to move up to 155 pounds, immediately took over the championship mantle at lightweight, and in his first interview as the new champ, he called for his first title defence to come against his heated rival, Paddy Pimblett.
Joe Rogan called on arena security to let Pimblett step out from the Octagonside seats and into the cage, and the Liverpudlian contender was happy to oblige, as he congratulated Topuria for his knockout victory and paid due respect, before warning him that he would never knock him out.
Topuria then tried to get under Pimblett’s skin by goading him, and when Pimblett didn’t rise to it, the newly-crowned champ gave him a big shove as their face-off came to an end.
It sets up a massive fight between the pair, who infamously clashed at the Canary Wharf Hilton ahead of the UFC London card both men were a part of back in 2022. The pair nearly came to blows on that occasion, and their rivalry has continued to simmer ever since, with each man repeatedy referencing the other in interviews in the last few years.
Now the pair have risen to the top of the UFC lightweight division, and appear to be on collision course in what would be a huge clash, not just for the UFC, but also for European MMA.
Pantoja submits Kara-France in dominant title defence
In the co-main event, reigning flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja stamped his authority on the rest of the 125-pound division with a dominant display as he submitted New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France to retain his title for the fourth consecutive time.
Pantoja came flying out of the blocks as he threw a wild multi-punch combination at Kara-France, then shot in and dragged the Kiwi to the mat.
With the action firmly in his wheelhouse, Pantoja then took Kara-France’s back and looked to work a choke. The challenger defended well, but had to be on his guard after briefly finding himself caught in an arm-triangle choke. Pantoja remained on top, hunting the submission, but Kara-France did enough to avoid the danger and get out of the round.
Pantoja continued to pile on the pressure in Round 2, but Kara-France was able to stay off the mat for longer spells. But in the third round, “The Cannibal” continued his relentless attack and, after taking the action to the mat again, eventually took Kara-France’s back and locked up a rear-naked choke that, despite the Kiwi’s frantic attempts to fight the hands, eventually forced the challenger to tap.
After his victory, Pantoja respectfully stared off with his next challenger, Joshua Van, whose stellar performance earlier in the night earned him the next shot at the flyweight title.
Van outguns Royval in fight of the year candidate
Joshua Van delivered the performance of his young career to defeat number-one flyweight contender Brandon Royval after a three-round thriller, and put himself right in line for a shot at the undisputed flyweight world title.
Just three weeks from his last UFC appearance, Van stepped in on short notice to replace Manel Kape against Royval, who was positioned perfectly to score a victory to lock in a shot at the flyweight title.
But, in a back-and-forth striking war that had the T-Mobile Arena crowd on its feet, Royval and Van went toe to toe in one of the best flyweight title fights in recent memory, and undoubtedly one of the very best fights we’ve seen this year.
Royval attempted to use his height and reach advantage smartly by working behind his jab, then stepping in with power shots. But every time he stepped into the pocket, Van exploded with two- and three-punch combinations, with his right hand seemingly unable to miss Royval’s chin.
After a great opening round, Royval adjusted and turned up the pressure on Van, without stepping into range quite so quickly. It proved to be a more effective approach, but Van quickly tweaked his response and resumed countering with big shots once again.
And with the fight still looking up for grabs in the final round, the pair put the pedal to the metal, with the crowd raising the roof in the closing seconds. And, with both men trading big shots, Van made the crucial breakthrough as he dropped Royval with a huge right hand, and looked to follow up with ground strikes, only for the final horn to cut short his pursuit of a late finish.
The judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 to Van, who claimed a remarkable victory to put himself right in line for a shot at championship gold next time out.
Dariush outworks Moicano for comeback win
Longtime lightweight contender Beneil Dariush made his return after a year and a half away, and rebounded from a first-round knockdown to claim a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Renato Moicano.
Moicano made the early breakthrough when he dropped Dariush with a perfectly-timed straight shot, but rather than look to add follow-up strikes, he attempted to take Dariush’s back, and it gave his rocked opponent time to recover and survive the round.
After the restart, Dariush turned to his ground game. He took Moicano to the mat and continuously applied the pressure on Moicano. But the Brazilian defended well to avoid any submission danger and take the fight into the third and final round.
With Moicano clearly taking Round 1, and Dariush dominating Round 2, the fight hung in the balance heading into Round 3. And it was Dariush whose work was more effective as he claimed the crucial third round, and the decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favour.
Improved Talbott impresses over Lima
The main card kicked off with a superb bantamweight battle between rising prospects Payton Talbott and Felipe Lima.
The action went back and forth through three action-packed rounds as Talbott showed vastly improved scrambling ability on the mat to match Lima on the ground, then score more effectively when he had the dominant position.
That combination helped Talbott claim the victory, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 as Talbott bounced back into the win column in impressive style
UFC 317: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Ilia Topuria def Charles Oliveira via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:27 – for vacant lightweight title
- Alexandre Pantoja def. Kai Kara-France via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:55– for flyweight title
- Joshua Van def. Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Beneil Dariush def. Renato Moicano via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Payton Talbott def. Felipe Lima via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Gregory Rodrigues def. Jack Hermansson via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:21
- Jose Miguel Delgado def. Hyder Amil via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 0:26
- Tracy Cortez def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Terrance McKinney def. Viacheslav Borshchev via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:55
EARLY PRELIMS
- Jacobe Smith def. Niko Price via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:03
- Jhonata Diniz def. Alvin Hines via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
