New champion caps UFC 317 at T-Mobile with brutal KO — PHOTOS

Ilia Topuria predicted he would knock out Charles Oliveira in the first round and even staged a celebratory dinner 24 hours before stepping in the cage at UFC 317 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

He proved to be prophetic, dropping Oliveira with a brutal right hand followed by a short left to win the vacant lightweight title at 2:27 of the first round.

“It was exactly the game plan,” Topuria said. “Right hand, left hook and boom, he’s on his way out.”

In the flyweight division, champion Alexandre Pantoja continued his methodical dismantling of the top of the 125-pound class, but an exciting new challenger may have emerged.

Pantoja earned his eighth straight victory and defended the belt a fourth consecutive time by submitting Kai Kara-France in the third round of the co-main event.

He will likely fight Joshua Van, who wasn’t even ranked three weeks ago when he scored a knockout of Bruno Gustavo da Silva in New Jersey.

Topuria (17-0), vacated the featherweight title to move up to 155 pounds and becomes the 10th fighter in UFC history to win belts in multiple weight classes.

“He did exactly what he said he was going to do,” UFC president Dana White said. “He’s an absolutely complete fighter. Tonight was his big night. We have a star on our hands.”

Topuria quickly erased any questions about whether his power would translate in the bigger division. Oliveira (35-11, one no-contest), who was cut in the opening minute, had not been knocked out since 2017.

Topuria has now knocked out former champions and potential future Hall of Famers in three consecutive fights, including Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.

“That’s a great three-fight win streak,” White said. “All legends that he’s knocked out. Moving up a weight class like that and doing what you say you’re going to do, especially the way he did it, is very impressive.”

Flyweight title match looms

Van (15-2) agreed to step in on short notice to take on top contender Brandon Royval (17-8) on Saturday after Manel Kape suffered a broken foot and had to pull out of the matchup.

The 23-year-old took full advantage of the opportunity, outlasting Royval in a wild brawl that featured few dull moments and had fans standing for nearly the entire final round.

Fight of the year predictions were already flying before the final bell rang and Van was awarded the unanimous decision.

UFC officials brought Van into the cage after Pantoja’s victory to confirm the matchup would be booked.

“He’s a great champion, but he’s never fought Joshua Van,” the future challenger said.

It has been a remarkable run for the Myanmar native, whose family immigrated to Houston when he was 12 years old.

Van has now won five straight fights since September and is ready to challenge for a title.

He will likely do that against Pantoja (30-5), who took Kara-France (25-12, one no-contest) down several times before finally securing the fight-ending choke.

“I love to make a show,” he said. “Are you entertained now?”

Talbott back on track

Las Vegas native Payton Talbott once again looked like the fighter who was on a fast track to stardom before suffering a stunning defeat in January.

Talbott (10-1), a 26-year-old who was raised in Reno and graduated from UNR, bounced back from his first career defeat with an impressive unanimous-decision victory over Felipe Lima (14-2) to end the bantamweight’s 14-fight winning streak.

Talbott is most known as a flashy striker, but he earned the victory Saturday by showing off a huge leap in his scrambling ability.

“It feels much better (to win),” Talbott said. “I’ve just been working, and I’m happy it paid off and I got the win.”

Talbott had struggled in that realm against Raoni Barcelos, and it cost him in the form of a decision loss and his unblemished record. He wasn’t going to let that happen again. Talbott often wound up in favorable positions out of scrambles and was able to escape when he did not.

“I learn while I’m fighting,” he said of adjusting during the bout. “I’m still learning every time I get in the cage, and that’s what it’s about.”

Dariush back with win

Also on the main card, Beneil Dariush (23-6-1) returned from a two-year layoff due to a knee injury and snapped a two-fight losing streak by scoring a unanimous decision over Renato Moicano (20-7-1) in a matchup of ranked lightweights.

The victory moved Dariush into a tie for second-most wins in UFC lightweight history with 17.

Preliminary card

Middleweight Gregory Rodrigues highlighted the preliminary card by spoiling the return of Jack Hermansson with a crushing knockout.

Hermansson, who had missed more than 16 months, was tended to for several minutes by medical personnel after taking an extra shot after he was knocked out but before the referee had stopped in to stop the fight.

It was a solid bounce-back for Rodrigues, who had a three-fight winning streak snapped in February.

“I learned a lot about patience,” he said. “Last fight, I learned a little bit more about myself. We’re just going to keep going. One result doesn’t tell who you are.”

Featherweight Jose Miguel Delgado needed just 26 seconds to stop Hyder Amil with a knee and a series of elbows, the only other knockout on the preliminary card.

Welterweight Jacobe Smith, who entered the bout as unofficially the biggest favorite in UFC history at more than -2,500, submitted Niko Price 4:03 into the second round with a rear-naked choke.

“I don’t really pay attention to that,” Smith said. “I was an underdog my whole life and I always overcame the odds, so you just have to keep preparing the same way.”

Lightweight Terrance McKinney locked in a guillotine in just 55 seconds to stop Viacheslav Borshchev.

McKinney’s last five fights, including four victories, have all ended at the 2:01 mark or sooner.

Tracy Cortez won all three rounds on all three scorecards in a women’s flyweight bout against Viviane Araujo, and heavyweight Jhonata Diniz earned a 29-28 nod on all three cards over Alvin Hines.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.