UFC 317 live updates, results and highlights from Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira

Having vacated his featherweight title in pursuit of Islam Makhachev, Ilia Topuria (16-0) has had to content himself with a lightweight championship bout against former beltholder, Charles Oliveira (34-10) at UFC 317 in Las Vegas.

Topuria looks to win UFC gold in a second division, having previously taken down the 145-pound legends of Alex Volkanovski and Max Holloway in back-to-back outings to cap his astronomical rise.

Can the Spain-based Georgian get past another durable fan favourite in Oliveira or will the Brazilian vet ‘s size and guile earn him an upset victory?

In the chief support, Oliveira’s countryman Alexandre Pantoja looks to turn back the challenge of the hard-hitting Kiwi Kai Kara-France and defend his UFC flyweight title.

Follow along with all the latest from Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena:

UFC 317 live updates and results

An anticipated clash between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Kara-France for the UFC flyweight title is next. Pantoja has reigned over this division for two-years. Kara-France is up for the battle and believes he’s the future of the division. 

Flyweights go to war: Van gets the nod over Royval

11:50 p.m. ET: Joshua Van defeats Brandon Royval by unanimous decision and calls for title shot.

11:46 p.m. ET: Van is applying the pressure to start the third round, backing Royval up to the fence with a high-guard and intelligent shot selection. The 32-year-old isn’t backing down, firing back hard strikes of his own. The crowd is on their feet. Van drops Royval late but Royval survives. Fight of the year contender right there.

11:40 p.m. ET: It’s as if both men’s front legs are tied to each other because they both refuse to leave the centre of the Octagon. They’re trading heavy punches with little regard for defence. It’s hard to tell who is getting the better of the other in this round, with both men now bleeding from the nose. What a fight!

11:34 p.m. ET: As expected, Royval started busy with the jab and low-kick. Van answered with three powerful right hands of his own. After a relatively measured opening minute, the second half of round one was very high-paced with both men landing clean. The judges will have to decide whether they prefer the volume of Royval; or power of Van.

11:16 p.m. ET: Brandon Royval and Joshua Van are up next.

Beneil Dariush recovers from being dropped early to defeat Renato Moicano

11:11 p.m. ET: Both men are out on their feet in the third round. After a few striking exchanges, Dariush has found his way to Moicano’s back. The Brazilian defended the position well but looks too exhausted to capitalise with his boxing. Dariush has done enough to secure the victory.

11:05 p.m. ET: If Dariush is feeling the ill-effects of the barrage at the end of the first round, he certainly isn’t showing it. He’s pushed Moicano to the fence and is putting him through a spin cycle of grappling exchanges. By spending the last two-minutes of the round in top half-guard, Dariush has almost assuredly made this a 19-19 fight heading into the final round.

10:58 p.m. ET: After a patient start, both men traded heavy kicks in their open-stance matchup. Moicano drops Dariush with a long right-cross and is landing ground-and-pound from turtle. Great start from the Brazilian.

10:47 p.m. ET: The former featherweight champion ‘El Matador’ has arrived ahead of the main event.

10:44 p.m. ET: Lightweight veterans Beneil Dariush and Renato Moicano do battle next.

Payton Talbott returns from first career loss to beat elite prospect Felipe Lima

10:41 p.m. ET: A grateful Payton Talbott calls out bantamweight power-puncher Adrian Yañez in what would be an absolute banger if those two were to get booked.

10:37 p.m. ET: The hype train is back on track. Payton Talbott patched some of the glaring holes in his game that were exposed by Raoni Barcelos in his last bout. Lima got his man down in the third round but had limited control time – he was 3 from 14 on the night in the takedown department.

10:31 p.m. ET: The second round kicks-off almost identically to the first, with Lima landing the cleaner boxing combinations before ultimately ending up in bottom position after a failed takedown attempt. Talbott’s takedown defence has improved dramatically since his last outing. Both men traded spinning attacks in an exciting end to the round.

10:25 p.m. ET: Lima lands big punches early while Talbott tries to gauge his distance. The Brazilian aggressively pursued the takedown but Talbott was having none of it, reversing and finding his way into top position. After a scramble, Lima finds the back and controls the last minute of the round.

10:12 p.m. ET: Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima opens the show. 

10 p.m. ET: The main card has started. 

9:42 p.m. ET: Viscous knockout from Rodrigues who answered any questions the fans had of him after his last outing. A massive left hook put Hermansson down and a follow up shot put him away.

9:30 p.m. ET: Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues in middleweight action action headlines the prelims. 

9:10 p.m. ET: Wicked combination by Delgado who took the fight right to Amil and ended it with a knee. 

9:00 p.m. ET: Jose Miguel Delgado vs. Hyder Amil is next

8:55 p.m. ET: Tracy Cortez picked up the victory over Viviane Araujo by unanimous decision.

8:30 p.m. ET: Tracy Cortez vs. Viviane Araujo is next.

8:15 p.m. ET: Terrance McKinney wasted no time latching up a mounted guillotine choke and forcing Viacheslav Borshchev just 55 seconds into the bout.

8:05 p.m. ET: Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev is next.

7:55 p.m. ET: Jacobe Smith defeated Niko Price by submission due to a rear-naked choke in round two.

7:40 p.m. ET: Jacobe Smith vs. Niko Price is next.

7:35 p.m. ET: Diniz defeated Hines by unanimous decision.

7:15 p.m. ET: The first fight of the early prelims was Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines.

Hello everyone, and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of UFC 317! 

UFC 317 fight card

Main Card

• Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title
• Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Kai Kara-France for the UFC flyweight title
• Joshua Van def. Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Beneil Dariush def. Renato Moicano via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Payton Talbott def. Felipe Lima via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Prelims

• Gregory Rodrigues def. Jack Hermansson via TKO (4:21 into round one)
• Jose Miguel Delgado def. Hyder Amil via TKO (0:26 into round one)
• Tracy Cortez def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Terrance McKinney def. Viacheslav Borshchev via mounted guillotine choke (0:55 into round one)

Early Prelims

• Jacobe Smith def. Niko Price via rear-naked choke (4:03 into round two)
• Jhonata Diniz def. Alvin Hines via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)