Topuria’s Second-Division Triumph Shared the Stage
Ilia Topuria and Alexandre Pantoja left UFC 317 with different championship achievements on June 28, 2025. At T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Topuria became lightweight champion, while Pantoja extended his established flyweight reign with another submission victory.
Topuria carried his success into a new division
Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at 2:27 of the first round for the vacant lightweight belt. The championship had become available as Islam Makhachev prepared to move to welterweight.
The win followed Topuria’s featherweight title breakthrough against Alexander Volkanovski in February 2024 and a successful defense against Max Holloway later that year. He had relinquished the featherweight championship before pursuing the lightweight opportunity.
Pantoja added another successful defense
Pantoja submitted Kai Kara-France with a rear-naked choke at 1:55 of the third round. It was his fourth defense after earlier championship victories against Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg and Kai Asakura.
The Brazilian had won the belt from Brandon Moreno at UFC 290 in July 2023. His Las Vegas result therefore strengthened an ongoing reign rather than establishing a new champion.
The supporting card added another flyweight contender
Joshua Van defeated former title challenger Royval by unanimous decision on the same card. The result made his performance another significant part of the flyweight discussion alongside Pantoja’s defense.
Beneil Dariush and Payton Talbott also won decisions. Together, the main-card outcomes combined a new lightweight titleholder, an established flyweight champion and several fighters rebuilding or accelerating their own divisional campaigns.
Sources
- UFC: June 28 Las Vegas event and championship results
- UFC: Volkanovski, Holloway and Oliveira championship results
- UFC: title-winning Moreno bout and subsequent defenses
- UFC: vacant lightweight belt and Makhachev’s move
- Sporting News: Van, Dariush and Talbott main-card wins
