6 Hits & 2 Misses From UFC 317: Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

UFC Worldwide Battle Week normally brings alongside it a card with a highly-anticipated championship showdown, and that’s what we obtained with this 12 months’s version, UFC 317.

The principle occasion noticed the vacant UFC light-weight championship on the road as Ilia Topuria took on Charles Oliveira. Topuria received the featherweight title at UFC 298 final 12 months and defended it at UFC 308 in opposition to Max Holloway, however he selected to vacate the title with a view to transfer as much as 155. Oliveira, in the meantime, initially received the light-weight title at UFC 262 and made one profitable protection in opposition to Dustin Poirier at UFC 269.

Gold was additionally on the road within the co-main occasion, as UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja put the belt on the road in opposition to Kai Kara-France. Pantoja received the strap initially at UFC 290, defeating Brandon Moreno, and he retained the belt in opposition to Brandon Royval at UFC 296, Steve Erceg at UFC 301 and Kai Asakura at UFC 310. Kara-France got here into this title shot off a spotlight knockout of Erceg at UFC 305.

Who delivered in Las Vegas? Who fell flat? Let’s look again on the night time of motion along with the hits and misses of UFC 317!

Hit – Entertaining Prelims With Loads Of Finishes

The preliminary card set the tone for the night early, as there have been a number of fighters who put up sturdy performances to start out the cardboard off with a bang.

Terrance McKinney did such to kick off the televised portion of the prelims, shortly locking Viacheslav Borshchev in a guillotine choke and submitting him in simply 55 seconds. To not be outdone, Jose Miguel Delgado landed a one-two on Hyder Amil, adopted by a devastating knee that dropped and completed him.

Jacobe Smith, the heaviest odds favourite for a combat in UFC historical past, put away Niko Value, whereas Jhonata Diniz scored a choice win over Alvin Hines within the night’s lone heavyweight bout.

Tracy Cortez obtained a key victory over Viviane Araujo that ought to elevate her into the top-10 of the ladies’s flyweight rankings.

After which got here the ultimate prelim combat of the night…

Hit – Gregory ‘Robocop’ Rodrigues Goes Viral With KO Of The Yr Candidate

In some of the devastating knockouts the UFC has ever seen, Gregory Rodrigues landed a left hook that dropped Jack Hermansson to the mat, out chilly. Hermansson was out for a number of minutes, bringing again reminiscences on this author to when Alistair Overeem was knocked out by Francis Ngannou at UFC 217.

It ended up being one of many high moments of the night, and social media instantly blew up the second the end occurred.

“Robocop” has been recognized for his finishes, scoring knockouts now in 11 of his 17 victories in skilled MMA. He’s been a constant presence within the middleweight division and has now received 4 of his final 5 fights. This win permits him to rebound from a loss he suffered in opposition to former title challenger Jared Cannonier in February.

This was the form of end that claims we shouldn’t be trying away from “Robocop” out of receiving notable alternatives, and a combat in opposition to a top-15 contender at 185 must be subsequent for him.

Having mentioned all that…

Miss – The Debated Observe-Up Shot, Herb Dean’s Gradual Response

The left hand was not the final shot of the combat. A few seconds after touchdown the left, Rodrigues adopted up with a hammerfist to the face earlier than referee Herb Dean may step in to formally cease the combat.

It was a punch that was not obligatory, as Hermansson was out the minute the again of his head landed on the mat. And whereas one media member felt it introduced again reminiscences to when Dan Henderson landed such a follow-up shot on Michael Bisping at UFC 100, the follow-up shot turned an enormous rivalry level on social media.

In reality, loads of folks on social media mentioned they misplaced respect for the second — and Rodrigues — due to the “pointless” shot.

The place does the blame lay? Some say it falls on Rodrigues, because the fighter ought to have been capable of inform Hermansson was out chilly — particularly on condition that the follow-up got here seconds after the shot, not essentially straight away.

When requested in regards to the second in a post-fight press convention, Rodrigues implied that he was solely combating till the referee informed him to cease. And in his protection, that’s one thing fighters are informed to do.

And in his protection, sadly, this isn’t the primary time we’ve seen a controversial end involving compromised fighter security and Herb Dean. Joe Rogan identified on commentary that Dean was out of place; nevertheless, there’s a factor referred to as utilizing your voice. Think about Dean has projected his voice and yelled “Cease!” On the very least, it could have cleared him from potential fault on this mess.

Luckily, Hermansson was okay. Luckily, “Robocop” nonetheless has his career-defining second that can get him one other large alternative down the road. However this controversy isn’t going to go away for some time because the MMA world debates who’s extra at fault and we have now one other concern in regards to the tasks of fighters and referees on the subject of defending the athletes.

Hit – Payton Talbott Rebounds In Huge Method

At UFC 311 in January, lots anticipated Payton Talbott to make simple work of Raoni Barcelos and proceed the sturdy begin to his Octagon profession. However everybody was shocked when Talbott was utterly labored over in that combat en path to a dominating choice loss.

At UFC 317, Talbott righted his private ship by scoring a press release choice win over Felipe Lima to kick off the primary card motion.

Talbott appeared utterly improved in all points of his recreation. Talbott stuffed a number of takedown makes an attempt from Lima and was capable of present nice strides in his wrestling, including in some fairly sturdy ground-and-pound whereas he had high management at factors. Lima had success along with his fingers however continued to push, and fail, along with his takedown efforts.

The loss in January should have achieved one thing for Talbott, as he appeared higher than he did earlier than on this outing. Hopefully he continues to look higher in his subsequent matchup.

Miss – “Cash” Moicano Tastes Defeat, Beneil Dariush Unimpressive

For a bout between two notable names at light-weight, issues may have gone higher for each males, as Beneil Dariush defeated Renato Moicano.

Moicano appeared to manage issues early on, going from getting his leg broken by Dariush’s low kicks, to marking him up along with his fingers and dropping Dariush with a clear proper.

However Dariush got here out aggressive within the second, taking management of sturdy wrestling and dealing him over with floor stress and strikes from the highest place. Dariush employed this targeted over the course of the second and third spherical, draining Moicano as Dariush cruised to a choice victory.

For Moicano, that is fairly unlucky. After taking a title combat alternative on simply at some point’s discover, he now has back-to-back losses after shedding to Dariush. His subsequent combat will in all probability come in opposition to a lower-ranked or unranked light-weight identify, and a loss there may drop him out of the rankings utterly.

For Dariush, there’s no query he ought to be ok with this win. It rebounds him from a pair of losses to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan and reveals he’s nonetheless a reputation in a crowded light-weight contender scene. Contemplating the difficulty he was in, nevertheless, Dariush didn’t display sufficient to be thought of a critical menace to the brand new champion, nevertheless. In opposition to somebody like a Max Holloway, Mateusz Gamrot, or Dan Hooker, as an illustration, Dariush may discover himself in some deep bother.

Hit – Joshua Van’s Meteoric Rise As He And Brandon Royval Throw Down In One Of The Greatest Flyweight Fights

Although he wasn’t competing in one of many night’s title fights, Joshua Van must be thought of the Fighter of the Month for June 2025. After placing on a beating of Bruno Silva at UFC 316, Van, days later, agreed to step in on brief discover in just some weeks’ time to tackle No. 1 ranked flyweight contender and former title challenger Brandon Royval.

The consequence was one of many biggest performances displayed in some of the entertaining, thrilling wars the UFC Octagon has ever witnessed — not to mention inside the flyweight division.

Royval appeared to place the stress on Van early, throwing rather a lot in quantity to try to hold Van at bay. However whereas Royval had the amount, Van had the standard, touchdown successfully each time he did throw. Then, Van picked up his depth within the second spherical, and issues became a real bloody slugfest, with each fighters having their moments all through the second and third rounds.

With the combat doubtlessly falling both means in its closing seconds, and each fighters placing on private bests for putting, Van dropped Royval, although he was unable to attain the end earlier than the horn. Van earned the choice, and the 2 eared the Battle of the Evening bonus (even Royval obtained his win bonus).

Simply weeks in the past, Joshua Van was on the decrease finish of the flyweight ranks as he continued to work his means up. Now, not solely did he placed on a superhero effort to take a combat on brief discover and become involved in a warfare, he received that warfare and can now be subsequent in line to problem for the flyweight title.

Hit – Alexandre Pantoja: Greatness In Actual Time

Alexandre Pantoja already appeared like an all-star fighter at Worldwide Battle Week a few years in the past when he dethroned Brandon Moreno to win the UFC flyweight championship. However the man continues to get higher with every combat, and that continued as he defeated Kai Kara-France within the co-main occasion of UFC 317 to retain the championship.

It wasn’t even an in depth combat, as Pantoja scored a takedown within the opening minute and didn’t let up, controlling KKF for over 4 of the spherical’s 5 minutes, at one level threatening a choke. Pantoja continued to manage the combat’s tempo, scoring one other pair of takedowns earlier than locking up a rear-naked choke within the third spherical to attain the submission.

Pantoja has now defended the flyweight title on 4 events. And he has continued to make strides whereas making defenses, and that has been notably on show in consecutive title defenses now (see his protection in opposition to Kai Asakura from UFC 310 in December as effectively).

Pantoja will now be taking over Joshua Van subsequent. This must be an thrilling showdown, and a win ought to additional the argument that Pantoja is among the UFC’s greatest champions — and maybe ought to have a a lot larger spot within the males’s pound-for-pound rankings (if he shouldn’t already).

Hit – Ilia Topuria Already Constructing His Legacy

A 9-0 report within the UFC now, with seven of these victories coming through a end. An undefeated fighter. Jaw-dropping wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway to win and retain, respectively, the UFC featherweight championship.

And now, extra historical past for Ilia Topuria, as he turns into the primary undefeated fighter, and tenth UFC fighter total, to win a UFC title in a second weight division. And he did so in additional spotlight vogue.

Topuria and Charles Oliveira each land sturdy strikes early earlier than Oliveira tried to take management along with his expert-level grappling. Topuria, nevertheless, countered a takedown try and ended up on high. Oliveira tried to threaten a leg lock, however Topuria obtained out of it. Then, on the toes, Topuria landed a devastating one-two that dropped Oliveira out chilly — changing into the primary fighter since Cub Swanson all the way in which again in 2012 to attain a first-round knockout of “Do Bronx.”

With Spain and Georgia each behind him, and him persevering with to make historical past after historical past, second after second, the world is Ilia Topuria’s oyster.

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