Ilia Topuria makes statement with quick stoppage of Charles Oliveira

LAS VEGAS — Ilia Topuria made good on his promise to finish Charles Oliveira in the first two or three rounds, knocking the future UFC hall-of-famer with an explosive combo 2:27 into the fight on Saturday night for the vacant UFC lightweight crown.

Topuria’s win makes him the first undefeated two-division champion in UFC history and the 10th overall. The 28-year-old, who fights under Georgian and Spanish nationalities, ranks third on UFC’s pound-for-pound list.

The UFC 317 pay-per-view event ended with a face-off between Topuria (17-0) and star Paddy Pimblett of England, teasing what will almost certainly become the 28-year-old Topuria’s first lightweight title defense in the UFC.

The 35-year-old Oliveira, a heavy underdog from Brazil, fell to 35-11-0.

The co-main event saw flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja put forth a dominant effort against challenger Kai-Kara France, defeating the New Zealander with a vicious rear-naked choke at 1:55 of the third round. The win was the fourth consecutive title defense for Pantoja (30-5-0). He also surpassed Demetrious Johnson as the all-time wins (14) and finishes (eight) leader in UFC lightweight history.

12th-ranked lightweight Joshua Van and top contender Brandon Royval engaged in a captivating stand-up brawl that has a legitimate chance at going down as the fight of the year. The performance marked Van’s second win in three weeks after he beat Bruno Gustavo Da Silva at UFC 316 on June 7. Van, a Houston native of Burmese descent, knocked Royval down in the closing seconds of the fight before the final bell rang to the loudest crowd pop of the evening.

Van won by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Neither fighter even attempted a takedown for the duration of the three-round fight. Out of Royval’s 468 strikes thrown, all but a single one counted as a significant strike attempt. Van also threw 306 significant strikes, but was far more economical with his shots landing 209-of-311 total in comparison to Royval’s 216-of-458.

Because Dana White designated Royval vs. Van as a flyweight title eliminator fight, Van remained by the octagon for Pantoja’s victory and entered for a faceoff with the king of the division before their prospective title bout in the not-so-distant future.

Payton Talbott opened the main card with an impressive statement victory over favorite Felipe Lima by unanimous decision.

The general belief leading into this fight was that Talbott’s takedown defense and wrestling ability were exposed in his loss to Raoni Barcelos at UFC 311 in January. However, his performance defending the takedown and maneuvering his way out of trouble on the ground was a complete renaissance compared to six months ago.

Talbott stopped 12 of Lima’s 15 takedown attempts, and the native of Reno, Nev., also was incredibly effective and efficient with his ground striking when Lima did manage to bring him to the canvas.

In the main card’s second fight, Beneil Dariush responded to a first-round knockdown with a dominant performance over the next two rounds to beat fellow 36-year-old Renato Moicano by unanimous decision.

Dariush was successful on all five of his takedown attempts, in addition to outlanding Moicano 77-39 in total strikes and 56-31 in significant strikes. The win marks Dariush’s first since beating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280 in October 2022. Dariush lot fights in June and December of 2023 and did not fight last year.

— Will Despart, Field Level Media