Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to claim the lightweight title.
Topuria rendered Oliveira unconscious in the first round after a clinical yet devastating performance and put the rest of the division on notice on Saturday 28th at the T-Mobile arena in Nevada.
The Spanish-Georgian fighter dominated as he landed 24 out of 32 significant strikes compared to Oliveira’s 10.
Topuria even landed double the amount of significant strikes with 21, vastly more compared to the Brazilian’s nine.
MUST READ
Topuria even showed excellent proficiency on the ground as he successfully dealt with Charles’ elite ground game and Jiu-Jitsu.
Two and a half minutes into the first round, Topuria connected with a vicious left hook to the jaw before finishing off with a few more shots on the ground to end the fight.
Topuria has firmly put himself into the fan’s bad books as he completely flatlined fan favourite fighters in the lead up to this fight by knocking out Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
UFC 317 was no exception as Oliveira is beloved by fans for his dynamic fighting style, humble attitude and beginnings.
However at 28, Topuria has time to build his own connection with the fans, and is just coming into his physical peak, he is proving to be a formidable force in the whole of the UFC.
With a scary record of 17-0, Topuria became the first fighter in UFC history to win two titles in different divisions with an unblemished record.
For Oliveira, this defeat puts any hope of reclaiming the title in deep uncertainty.
At 35 years old, Oliveira does not have much time left, especially in a division with such young and hungry lions like Pimblett, Topuria and Arman Tsarukyan.
With a record of 35 wins and 11 losses, Do Bronx is a battle hardened warrior who faced uncertainty early in his career before a resurgence which saw him win the lightweight belt in 2021 against Micheal Chandler.
After two successful title defences, he lost the title a year later to Islam Makhachev.
After the fight, Topuria got into a heated altercation with Paddy Pimblett during his post fight speech, could a potential fight be on the cards for the two fighters in the
