Ilia Topuria got here out victorious on June 28 when he confronted Charles Oliveira atop UFC 317, reside from T-Cell Area in Las Vegas. The competition featured the unbeaten Georgian-Spanish former featherweight champion in opposition to the previous light-weight champion from Brazil. The 2 fighters battled it out for the vacant title at 155 lbs.
The scheduled five-round contest ended early. Following some wrestling on the bottom, throughout which Topuria escaped a leglock, the referee introduced each fighters again to their toes. Because the putting resumed, Topuria began working from the again foot, throwing jabs to the pinnacle and physique. When Oliveira moved ahead, Topuria caught him with a brief proper hand adopted by a left hook.
As Oliveira hit the canvas, Topuria landed a few hammer fists, and Marc Goddard rushed in to name it a day. The official time of the stoppage was 2 minutes and 27 seconds into the primary spherical.
With the victory by knockout, 28-year-old Ilia Topuria remained undefeated, improved to 17-0, and have become champion in his second weight class. 35-year-old Charles Oliveira didn’t achieve his second try to regain the title, dropping to 35-11, 1 NC.
Within the UFC 317 co-main occasion, Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) made his fourth profitable protection of the flyweight title in opposition to Kai Kara-France (25-12, 1 NC) of New Zealand. Pantoja retained his belt, defeating Kara-France by submission through rear-naked choke at 1:55 of the third spherical.
