UFC 317 notebook: Charles Oliveira, Ilia Topuria both looking to make history

History will be made in the main event of UFC 317, regardless of which fighter gets their hand raised when Ilia Topuria faces Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title this weekend.

There have been 12 undisputed lightweight champions in UFC history – plus three interim titleholders – yet there has never been a two-time champion in the weight class.

Oliveira could become the first two-time 155-pound champion if he pulls off the upset against the undefeated former featherweight champ.

The 35-year-old Brazilian initially became champion in 2021 when he defeated Michael Chandler by technical knockout at UFC 262. That matchup, just like the UFC 317 main event, was for a vacant title after longtime champion Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in October of 2020.

Oliveira successfully defended his title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 and then defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. However, Oliveira was stripped of his title ahead of that Gaethje bout after missing weight by half a pound, so it technically was not a title defence as the title was not on the line for Oliveira. Had Gaethje beaten Oliveira that night, though, Gaethje would’ve been awarded the title.

Oliveira’s subsequent fight was another vacant lightweight championship matchup, this time against Islam Makhachev. Oliveira had his lengthy winning streak snapped when he was submitted by Makhachev in the second round of the UFC 280 main event.

Makhachev defended the title against Alexander Volkanovski twice, plus Poirier and Renato Moicano, before deciding to vacate the title earlier this year to pursue the welterweight championship.

Saturday will mark Oliveira’s fourth UFC lightweight title fight, three of which have been for vacant belts.

Meanwhile, Topuria has the opportunity to become the 10th two-weight champion in UFC history and would be the first athlete to do so as an undefeated fighter.

Every other two-weight champion had at least one professional loss on their record at the time they won their second belt, including (with a slight asterisk) the recently retired Jon Jones, who had a disqualification loss early in his UFC career.

Topuria is 16-0 in mixed martial arts and 8-0 since debuting in the UFC in 2020.

The 28-year-old Spanish-Georgian star became featherweight champion in early 2024 when he knocked out Volkanovski at UFC 298, then defended the belt late in the year at UFC 308 by becoming the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway.

Although Topuria wouldn’t technically become a simultaneous two-weight champ because he officially vacated the featherweight title in April, he can join Conor McGregor as the only other fighter to win titles in both the featherweight and lightweight divisions.

Van thinks title shot should be next if he beats Royval

Joshua Van is on an incredible run in the 125-pound division and views his future as only getting brighter. Van is stepping in on short notice to take on No. 1-ranked Brandon Royval in a featured main card bout that immediately precedes Alexandre Pantoja attempting to defend his flyweight title against Kai Kara-France.

Van, who Royval previously described as “the sickest prospect in the UFC,” told reporters at UFC 317 media day Wednesday: “After I (beat Royval) I’m gonna get the title for sure.”

After eight UFC appearances since debuting in the organization two years ago, the 23-year-old originally from Myanmar, now living and training in Texas, is 7-1 and is already tied for the third-most significant strikes landed in UFC flyweight history. In fact, his 8.2 strikes landed per minute ranks first among all active UFC fighters regardless of weight class. He overwhelmed Bruno Silva to earn a third-round TKO win at UFC 316 at the beginning of the month and is looking to end June with another massive victory courtesy of relentless offence.

“The thing I bring is a little different. The pressure,” Van said. “Two pressure fighters going to fight in the middle of the cage, so it’s going to be great for the fans.”

Royval, despite being the No. 1 contender in the division, has two previous losses to Pantoja, including a unanimous decision at UFC 296 in December of 2023.

Van added that he plans on weighing in at championship weight on Friday (that means no heavier than 125 pounds, and not taking advantage of the one-pound allowance non-title competitors are given), just in case there is any potential issue with either of the co-main event fighters. That way, hypothetically, he would be eligible to step in and fight for the title.

All respect from Pantoja ahead of Kara-France rematch

Men’s flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja is looking for his eighth consecutive win since 2020 and his fourth straight title defence when he faces Kai Kara-France for the second time in his career.

Saturday’s co-main event is a rematch of a 2016 exhibition bout when the two were competitors on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions.

Pantoja won a two-round unanimous decision over Kara-France in a quarterfinal matchup in that first meeting, and even though it was 8.5 years ago, the defending 125-pound champion suggested both fighters learned a lot from it.

“He knows, and I know I can win one more time,” Pantoja told Sportsnet this week.

Pantoja, 35, is coming off a December submission win over Kai Asakura at UFC 310. Kara-France, 32, returned from a 14-month layoff at UFC 305 last year and got a first-round technical knockout win over Steve Erceg, who pushed Pantoja for a hard five rounds when they met at UFC 301 last year. The New Zealander also holds a notable past win over Askar Askarov, the most recent person to defeat Pantoja.

“He has powerful hands, amazing takedown defence," Pantoja said of Kara-France's skill set. "That’s a good challenge for me because I like to go to the ground, I like to finish my opponents, I like to use my jiu-jitsu, and maybe for Kai, I need to use more of my striking. It’s a good challenge.”

Moicano ready to retire 'old' Dariush

Renato “Money” Moicano is only 15 days younger than his UFC 317 opponent Beneil Dariush, but the entertaining Brazilian said, tongue in cheek, this week that he plans on putting a beating on Dariush and sending the greybeard into retirement.

The veteran lightweights were rebooked for UFC 317 after a scheduled UFC 311 bout fell apart at the last minute in January when Moicano was given a short-notice title shot against Islam Makhachev to fill in for Arman Tsarukyan, who withdrew from his scheduled championship opportunity on the eve of that event with a back injury.

Moicano is a slight betting favourite heading into the weekend, but is not quite as big of a favourite as he was in January. The 36-year-old said with a smile that losing in the first round to Makhachev is the likely reason for that, adding in an interview with Sportsnet that he feels his second training camp to prepare for Dariush went even smoother than the first one.

Lima ready to show out in surprise main card spot

Felipe Lima vs. Payton Talbott was a late addition to UFC 317, but the exciting bantamweight matchup is a great way to kick off the main card. Lima has won 14 consecutive bouts since dropping his pro debut in 2015 when he was still a teenager and the 27-year-old Brazilian went 2-0 in the UFC in 2024 with wins over Muhammad Naimov and Miles Johns.

Both of Lima’s UFC bouts so far have taken place at 145 pounds, but he’s moving back down to 135 pounds for his matchup with Talbott, who's looking to bounce back from his first pro loss after being upset by Raoni Barcelos in January.

“Payton has a good name behind him, he has good hype, so I think beating Payton is gonna put me in a good position in the UFC,” Lima said Wednesday.

Lima has vowed in the lead-up to Saturday's event in Las Vegas that he'll put on a show for fans to validate the main card spotlight. Talbott had won his first three UFC bouts by stoppage prior to his January setback.

Late replacement announced for prelims

The UFC confirmed that middleweight Sedriques Dumas has been removed from a scheduled preliminary card bout with Jackson McVey, who'll now face fellow UFC newcomer Chris Ewert.

McVey is 6-0 from Missouri, with half his wins coming by KO/TKO and half by submission, while Chile’s Ewert debuts with a 7-0 pro record with five knockouts and two decision wins.

Though no official reason was given for Dumas' removal, the 29-year-old from Florida is currently dealing with some legal issues stemming from a late-April arrest that has him facing multiple charges, including felony home invasion robbery without a firearm, felony possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and misdemeanour battery. It was surprising Dumas was even added to the fight card in the first place given the charges he faces.

Updated UFC 317 bout order

MAIN CARD

— Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

— Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France

— Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van

— Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano

— Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima

PRELIMINARY CARD

— Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues

— Hyder Amil vs. Jose Delgado

— Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez

— Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

— Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines

— Niko Price vs. Jacobe Smith

— Christopher Ewert vs. Jackson McVey