UFC 317 takeaways: Topuria officially a superstar

Ilia Topuria captured the vacant UFC lightweight championship Saturday night, knocking out Charles Oliveira in the first round of the UFC 317 main event in Las Vegas.

In the co-headliner, Alexandre Pantoja defended the flyweight title for the fourth time with a third-round submission of Kai Kara-France.

Here are four takeaways from the pay-per-view event.

Topuria is quickly becoming the face of the UFC

Dana White called Topuria a star after UFC 317, and he's certainly not wrong.

Many would argue the UFC product hasn't been its best in 2025, but Topuria is one of the bright spots. With Jon Jones retiring, Conor McGregor nowhere to be found, and several current champions struggling to create buzz, the promotion desperately needs someone like Topuria to shine in the Octagon and draw in fans. And Topuria is delivering on all fronts.

We've all had high hopes for Topuria since his UFC debut in 2020. But it's never been clearer that the 28-year-old Georgian-Spaniard is a special, generational talent. On Saturday, Topuria put an exclamation mark on what is arguably the greatest three-fight run in UFC history: knockouts of three future Hall of Famers in Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Oliveira. It's impossible to overstate the impressiveness of these victories. It's not just who he's beating, it's how he's doing it: in dominant, violent fashion.

We're witnessing an all-time great in the making - and he's carrying the sport on his shoulders.

Pantoja deserves more pound-for-pound respect

Pantoja is the UFC's most dominant champion. That's a fact. So why is he the lowest-ranked champion on the men's pound-for-pound list at No. 9?

Truthfully, it makes no sense. Pantoja's reign is the longest out of the eight current male champions. He won the title in July 2023 and has defended it four times. He's also outclassed almost everyone the UFC has put in front of him, which has created a wide gap between him and the rest of the 125-pound contenders.

After his latest victory over Kara-France, Pantoja deserves to move up several spots in the pound-for-pound rankings. As things stand, the Brazilian is being outright disrespected.

Van injects new blood into the flyweight division

First of all, Joshua Van and Brandon Royval can take a bow. Their main-card flyweight bout was incredible and easily the front-runner for Fight of the Year.

Secondly, Van is a special talent.

Think about this: The 23-year-old fought Bruno Silva three weeks ago, stopping him in the third round of a grueling fight. Then he agreed to step in on two weeks' notice against the No. 1-ranked flyweight in the UFC after Manel Kape fell off the card with an injury. And he got the job done.

Van is moving up the flyweight ladder at a record pace. He faced off with Pantoja in the Octagon after their respective wins and is likely next in line for a title shot. He's injected some new blood into the 125-pound title picture, and at this point, it seems like the only man with any chance of stopping him is the champ himself.

Dariush still a player at 155 pounds

Thirty-six-year-old Beneil Dariush came back from an 18-month layoff to beat Renato Moicano, snap a two-fight losing streak, and earn his first victory since October 2022.

All of which is to say, Dariush has still got it.

Dariush has been one of the most underrated lightweights throughout his entire 11-year UFC career. He hit a rough patch against some tough competition in 2023, but he put on a gutsy performance in his UFC 317 return. He survived a knockdown in the first round and outworked Moicano in the next two to get the judges' nod.

Dariush might not be fighting for a title anytime soon, but he showed Saturday that he still deserves to be talked about at 155 pounds.