International Fight Week was unforgettable, thanks to the numerous fights that took place at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Ilia Topuria became the new UFC Lightweight Champion, as well as Alexandre Pantoja successfully defending his Flyweight title.
UFC 317 delivered a plethora of knockouts and submissions, leaving fans thoroughly pleased with what they had witnessed.
From all the action that happened in Las Vegas, it is fair to say that UFC 317 could be the event of the year for Combat Sports.
Topuria becomes two-division champion
In the main event of UFC 317, ‘El Matador’ and Charles Oliveira came face-to-face in the Octagon for the vacant Lightweight Championship.
Topuria was previously the UFC Featherweight Champion before vacating the title to move up a weight class.
The Georgian hoped to set his sights on becoming a two-division champion.
Oliveira was aiming to become the first two-time UFC Lightweight Champion.
‘Do Bronxs’ won his first title at UFC 262 when he knocked out Michael Chandler in the second round.
The title bout lasted only one round as Oliveira came close to submitting Topuria when both men were on the ground.
But as soon as the battle got back on its feet, a powerful two-punch combination from Topuria shut the lights off for the Brazilian.
During the post-fight interview, the 28-year-old called out Lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett.
Both men exchanged heated words as they have had history since UFC London back in March 2022.
The rivalry began during an incident in the fighter hotel where Topuria confronted Pimblett.
This left both men escalating the situation with punches and hand sanitiser bottles thrown at each other.
With such an intense feud between the two mixed martial artists, it certainly seems that it may just be the next big Lightweight title fight.
Pantoja reigns supreme at 125 pounds
The UFC Flyweight Champion has been nothing but unstoppable and clearly showed it at the T-Mobile Arena.
The Brazilian took on #4 contender, Kai Kara-France, who was coming off a knockout win against Steve Erceg at UFC 305.
The ‘Cannibal’ dominated the fight both on the feet and on the ground, causing many problems for the Kiwi.
The title bout came to an end in round three after Pantoja locked in a Rear-Naked Choke, which gave Kara-France no choice but to tap.
The Rio de Janeiro fighter successfully defended his title for the fourth time.
It still makes him far away from Demetrious Johnson’s record of 12 Flyweight title wins.
Currently ranked at #9 in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings, Pantoja is hoping the UFC will move him up, as he has been on an incredible road to title glory.
The Brazilian is currently on an eight-fight win streak, with half of those victories ending by submission.
Van earns title shot in Fight of the Year Contender
Just before the co-headliner of UFC 317, Brandon Royval and Joshua Van squared off in the Octagon.
The two mixed martial artists had a lot at stake, as the winner would be guaranteed a title shot.
This thrilling contest went the distance as ‘Raw Dawg’ and ‘The Fearless’ exchanged multiple strikes throughout all three rounds.
Van did knock down Royval late in round three, but did not have enough time to finish the fight as the whole crowd went crazy for this Flyweight bout.
The American-Burmese fighter claimed the victory by unanimous decision, increasing his winning streak to five.
The new #1 Flyweight contender knew he would be next after his hand was raised at the end of the fight.
The Hakha-born fighter watched the co-main event at the Octagon side so he could make his presence known to the champion.
Van came face-to-face with Pantoja at the end of the post-fight interview in what would be a teaser for the next Flyweight title matchup.
It’s unknown when this fight will take place, but many of the MMA community will be excited to see if Van can be the one to stop the current King of the 125-pound division.
Everything else that happened at UFC 317
In such an action-packed night, there were plenty of crazy moments that happened in the cage.
Beneil Dariush returned victorious after defeating Renato Moicano by unanimous decision, despite being knocked down in the first round.
Payton Talbott earned redemption in his hometown when he went to the judges’ scorecards to win by unanimous decision against Felipe Lima.
Gregory Rodrigues pulled off a brutal knockout in the first round of his bout against Jack Hermansson, leaving the Las Vegas crowd in shock.
Jose Miguel Delgado made quick work of Hyder Amil after knocking out the undefeated fighter in just 26 seconds.
Tracy Cortez went the distance with Viviane Araujo to earn a dominant decision win, rising her up the Flyweight rankings.
Terrance McKinney was no stranger to finishing a fight quickly, as he submitted Viacheslav Borshchev with a Mounted Guillotine Choke in 55 seconds of the first round.
Jacobe Smith kept his perfect record after submitting Niko Price with a Rear-Naked Choke in round two.
Jhonata Diniz returned to the win column after going the distance with UFC debutant Alvin Hines to win by unanimous decision.