UFC 317 Preview: Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

The UFC heads back to its home of Las Vegas for a much-anticipated PPV event. UFC 317 will see Ilia Topuria making his Lightweight debut as former champion Charles Oliveira welcomes him to the division. The bout is scheduled as the title fight for the vacated Lightweight belt, as Islam Makhachev has decided to move one division up and thus compete for the Welterweight strap.

Besides this fight, we will also see Alexandre Pantoja defending his Flyweight title, this time against the Kiwi Kai Kara-France, who gets this opportunity for the second time in his career. These two fights alone are enough to keep us on the edge of our seats, and there is a ton more to hope for with the rest of the main card fights.

So let’s go, as per usual, one by one, and break down each fight individually. 

Main Event: Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

Even though Topuria relinquished his belt and went up chasing Islam Makhachev, the Dagestani fighter slipped away from him and left him to deal with the rest of the Lightweight division. Therefore, the UFC decided that Charles Oliveria would be the perfect fighter to welcome Topruia to the division, ultimately making this fight a Championship fight for the vacated Lightweight belt. 

Topruia enters the fight as an unbeaten (16-0) former Featherweight champion. He was relentless in the division, making light work of every one of his opponents. Once the competition got higher, he turned his thighs up and started knocking out people. He KO-ed Alexander Volkanovski to capture the title and then did the same to Max Holloway in his first defence.

Meanwhile, do Bronxs has had a steady climb back to contention after his loss to Islam Makhachev. He has defeated Beneil Dariush but lost to Arman Tsarukyan immediately after. Once everyone thought that this is it from Oliveria, he goes and proves everyone wrong with a title-worthy display against Michael Chandler.

This one is extremely tough to call, but I would give the advantage to Ilia. He is as tough as it gets and seems to only be getting better as the challenges get harder. Even though Oliveira is an expert on the ground, I think that Topuria’s wrestling can counteract Charles’ BJJ attacks. More so, Ilia is much better on his feet and is going to make sure that the fight stays there. 

I am extremely confident in Topuria becoming the Lightweight champion and then calling back Islam to face him. I might even go on to say that he can do that with a KO, as he has done so to much tougher opponents before.  

Co-Main Event: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France

Alexandre Pantoja is slowly turning into the GOAT of the Flyweight division. We didn’t know how good he was until he became a champion. Now, he will be making his fourth title defence against a man he defeated way back in the Ultimate Fighter series, Kai Kara-France.

Pantoja is relentless at this stage of his career. He is on a 7-fight win streak, including the title fight against Brandon Moreno, where he won the strap. He then defended his championship status against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg. But he proved his dominance in his last bout at UFC 310 against Kai Asakura, whom he submitted via rear-naked choke.

Kai Kara-France lost his first chance to become the Flyweight champion by losing to Brandon Moreno. It actually prompted another loss, to Amir Albazi, furthering him of the title. But thanks to an impressive display and a TKO win versus Steve Erceg, he was offered another shot at the title.

However, I don’t think that Kara-France wins this one. I still see Pantoja being miles away from anyone in this division. He has the grappling and the standup needed to counteract whatever Kai throws at him. The only thing that goes in favour of Kara-France is his punching power, which can end the fight in an instant.

Either way, I predict Pantoja taking him to the ground and dealing with him there. If he can take him down in every round, it will disrupt Fracen’s flow and ultimately tip the fight in the Caniballs ‘ favor. For that reason, I tip this one ending with a decision win for Pantoja. 

Rest of the Card

The rest of the card, while not as thrilling as the two main events, still has a chance to offer something interesting and unexpected. Renato Moicano is always amusing to watch, and this time he will be going up against Beneil Dariush. Royval vs. Van should provide us with fast-paced action, while Talbott gets an opportunity to avenge his first-ever loss against Felipe Lima.

Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van

Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van might just work as a title-eliminator bout, producing our next challenger in the Flyweight division. Royval has in recent times only lost to guys named Pantoja and Moreno, with two defeats against the Canibal. He bounced back after losing the championship fight with two wins. He first avenged his loss to Brandon Moreno and then went to a split decision win versus Tatsuro Taira.

Meanwhile, Joshua Van might just be the next big thing in the Flyweight division. He is on a four-fight win streak and has made a quick turnaround to feature on this fight card after making quick work of Bruno Silva at UFC 316. It was his best performance of his career as he knocked him out in the dying seconds of the fourth round and showed that he has potential for greater things. 

Royval is Van’s toughest test to date. Both fighters are very good on their feet, which promises us punches galore for this bout. Even though most favour Royval due to his experience, I am rooting for the underdog in this one and predict Van continuing on his momentum. An impressive win could set him up for a title fight, no matter if Pantoja or Kara-France wins.

Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano

After almost two years away from the Octagon, Beneil Dariush is making a comeback. Opposite him is the former title contender Renato Moicano, whose streak came to an end in an unexpected matchup against Islam Makhachev.

Dariush’s eight-fight win streak came to an end against Charles Oliveria at UFC 289, immediately followed by another loss to Arman Tsarukyan. And this was the last we saw from Beneil. Injuries and cancelled fights derailed his career a bit, and now he finds himself at number 8 in the Lightweight division.

On the other hand, Renato Moicano’s stick has been rising high. Superb wins against Jalin Turner and Benoit St. Denis, both TKOs, lined him up for an eventual title fight. However, that shot came a bit prematurely when he accepted a short-notice fight against Makhachev when Tsarukyan pulled out at the last second. Moicano didn’t run away from the opportunity offered to him, but was not able to avoid defeat, being submitted in the 4th minute of the first round.

Now he has a chance to make things right and get back to his winning ways. Dariush is as tough as it gets, but ring rust is a real thing, and I don’t know how motivated Beneil is for this one. Moicano seems to be in the prime of his life, so I see him taking this one with ease. Since Dariush’s chin has been cracked before, Moicano could do that again. So I predict a KO win for Money Moicano. 

Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima 

Payton Talbott is a star in the making in the UFC. After coming out of Dana White’s Contender Series, he went 3-0 in the UFC with all three being stoppage wins. Unfortunately, he hit a brick wall when faced against the veteran Raoni Barcelos, who derailed Talbott’s hype train with a decision win.

Talbott is now facing perhaps the equally talented Felipe Lima. Jungle Boy is 14-1 in his MMA career but 2-0 in the UFC with wins against Muhammadjon Naimov and Miles Johns. Both fighters are incredible prospects and pitting them against one another will determine which one of the two could potentially rise to stardom.

Both fighters are all-around, however, Talbott was exposed against Rarcelos, showing that there are cracks in his armor. Lima should exploit those cracks and learn from that fight if he is to defeat Talbott and I truly think he will. He opened as a favorite in this fight for a reason and I think that he gets it done via decision.

SAFER GAMBLING

At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.