Ilia Topuria added another UFC belt to his mantle with a vicious knockout of Charles Oliveira.
Topuria finished Oliveira at the 2:27 mark of the first round to capture the vacant lightweight championship in the UFC 317 main event Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Topuria, a former featherweight champion, became the 10th two-division titleholder in UFC history. He vacated the 145-pound title in December to move up to 155 pounds.
The first few exchanges between Topuria and Oliveira on the feet were competitive. But at the halfway point of the round, Topuria landed a left hook, a massive right hand, and another left that crumpled Oliveira and rendered him unconscious.
After the victory, lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett – who was cageside at the event – entered the Octagon to face off with Topuria. The two exchanged verbal jabs, and then Topuria shoved Pimblett.
A fight between Topuria and the popular Pimblett is one of the biggest the UFC can make at the moment, but it’s unclear if it’ll be next. Pimblett and Topuria have a history that dates back to 2022 when they got into an altercation at a hotel in London.
UFC CEO Dana White said at the postfight press conference that Pimblett shouldn’t have been allowed to go into the cage to face off with Topuria.
Topuria, ranked No. 3 on the men’s pound-for-pound list, continued one of the most impressive runs in UFC history with the knockout of Oliveira. The 28-year-old Georgian-Spaniard knocked out two all-time greats, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, in 2024. He captured the featherweight title with a second-round finish of Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February and then defended the belt with a second-round stoppage of Max Holloway at UFC 308 in October.
Topuria, who has become one of the biggest stars in MMA over the last year and a half, is now 9-0 in the UFC and 17-0 as a professional.
The vacant title fight between Topuria and Oliveira came together after longtime lightweight champion Islam Makhachev decided to relinquish the belt in May. Makhachev is moving to the welterweight division, where he’ll challenge Jack Della Maddalena for a second title later this year. Topuria had his sights set on Makhachev when he initially moved to 155 pounds, and he said last week he could still see the matchup coming to fruition if Makhachev beats Della Maddalena.
Oliveira, a former lightweight champion, suffered his first knockout loss since 2017 and fell to 1-2 in his past three Octagon appearances. He was coming off a unanimous decision win over Michael Chandler at UFC 309 last November. Oliveira, 35, is ranked No. 2 in the division.
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