UFC 317 takeaways: Ilia Topuria, Joshua Van represent exciting changes at lightweight and flyweight
Las Vegas: Though it still came as a surprise, Ilia Topuria fulfilled his vow to knock out Charles Oliveira in the first round of their uncontested lightweight title bout at UFC 317. When Topuria (17-0) defeated Oliveira at 2:27 of the first round on Saturday, he became the 10th fighter in UFC history to win belts in two separate weight divisions. A strong left hook was used after a brief right hand was placed on Oliveira's chin. After the first blow, Oliveira was already headed for defeat, so that second blow was just the cherry on top.
Topuria is the first two-division champion in UFC history to accomplish this accomplishment without losing. Topuria said, "I said it already," and even threw a celebratory meal on Friday before the bout. "I stand for mixed martial arts' new era. This is the sport's next level. Paddy Pimblett faced Topuria in the cage shortly after the victory. Topuria stated to ESPN earlier this week that he would like to defend his first title against Pimblett, preferably in Las Vegas.
The hype was quickly built by UFC. At the T-Mobile Arena, Pimblett, the eighth-ranked lightweight from Liverpool, England, was cageside. The two have been at odds since 2021, when Pimblett's remarks about the 2008 Russo-Georgian war infuriated Topuria. Despite fighting out of Spain, Topuria is Georgian. "Come on, if he feels ready. Topuria remarked, "You are a pale bastard." Ilia Topuria became a two-division champion after defeating Charles Oliveira at 2:27 in the opening round, proving his prediction to be accurate. The company Zufa LLC/Jeff Bottari
Despite the post-fight hype, Topuria's supremacy remained unchallenged. Oliveira made several attempts to take him down, but he repelled them. Topuria swiftly turned the tables and overtook the submission expert, even after Oliveira made some progress. The triumph on Saturday extended one of the most remarkable streaks in mixed martial arts history. Including former featherweight champions Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, Topuria has now defeated three all-time greats.
In addition to challenging Pimblett, Topuria is targeting Islam Makhachev, the former lightweight champion who relinquished his championship last month in order to go to welterweight. In the meantime, Tom Aspinall of England revealed that he hopes Jon Jones has a happy retirement. He went on to say that the only thing he regretted about the previous year was not being able to compete for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title, which he currently owns.