Ilia Topuria continued his ascension up the pound-for-pound ladder with a major statement via a vicious first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight championship on Saturday night at UFC 317.
Topuria used a sharp right hand to set up a devastating left hook that dropped Oliveira to end the bout at the 2:27 mark of the opening round, fulfilling his prediction of a first-round KO while sending the announced crowd of 19,800 into a frenzy.
“I always say I represent the new generation of mixed martial arts,” said Topuria.
Topuria (17-0), who now has 10 first-round finishes to his credit, moved up to the 155-pound weight class following a successful campaign in the featherweight division last year.
He claimed that belt with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski and defended his title by finishing Max Holloway in the third round of an October bout in Abu Dhabi.
Topuria, who came in ranked fourth on UFC’s pound-for-pound list, joined nine others who have held a UFC belt in two weight classes. He is the first undefeated fighter to become champion in two UFC divisions.
“I think tonight was his big night,” UFC CEO and president Dana White said. “We have a star on our hands.”
Oliveira (35-11), who has the most finishes in UFC history, was hoping to become the first fighter to win the lightweight belt on separate occasions.
Fellow lightweight Paddy Pimblett was in the audience and was summoned to the ring, where a heated exchange led to Topuria shoving the eighth-ranked contender and igniting a rivalry from years ago.
“Let's fight! If you're ready, I'm here,” Topuria said to Pimblett before he entered the ring.
White wasn't happy with Pimblett getting in the ring, knowing the history of bad blood between the two.
The two have been at odds for some time, after they came to blows when Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitiser at Topuria’s head in 2022.
“That was a heavy knockout, I’ll give you that,” Pimblett said to Topuria. “But you will never knock me out.”
Topuria replied: “I’m going to submit you.”
In the co-main event, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) successfully defended his belt by applying a rear-naked chokehold to defeat Kai Kara-France (25-12) at the 1:55 mark of the third round.
It marked the second time the fighters met, nine years after their quarter-final clash on the reality show “The Ultimate Fighter,” also won by Pantoja, but by unanimous decision.
Pantoja, who extended his win streak to eight fights, won the title two years ago when he beat Brandon Moreno by decision, and has now defended his title successfully four times.
The 35-year-old Brazilian was joined in the ring after his victory byJoshua Van, who put on a show of his own.
Van (15-2-0) defeated No 1 contender Brandon Royval (17-8-0) in a slugfest in which both fighters displayed incredible boxing skills. Van used an overhand right to drop Royval before closing out the bout with a severe ground-and-pound to secure the unanimous decision.
The 419 combined significant strikes landed were the third most in a UFC fight, and the most in both a three-round bout and a featherweight clash.
Moments after Pantoja’s win, Van challenged Pantoja with both standing nose to nose before exiting the octagon.
In a lightweight bout, No 9 Beneil Dariush (23-6-1) survived a first-round knockdown to defeat No 11 Renato Moicano (20-7-1) via unanimous decision.
In a bantamweight battle, Payton Talbott (10-1-0) used a much-improved ground game to register a unanimous decision over Felipe Lima (14-2-0).
