UFC 317 live: Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira UK start time, fight card, updates and results

Just to go back to the topic of weight-cutting, here’s why Topuria chose to leave behind 145lb:

On that note, here’s a look at when – and whom – Aspinall might fight next.

He spoke to The Independent earlier this month and evaluated the threats posed by a few top-ranked heavyweights:

The major UFC news this week, outside of anything 317-related, was Jon Jones’s retirement from MMA.

Here’s how he destroyed his legacy, step by step – not only in the recent saga that saw him avoid Tom Aspinall, the new heavyweight champion:

Had Oliveira failed to make weight, or had he or Topuria suffered a late injury (Topuria was unlikely to miss weight, up at 155lb), the back-up fighter tonight would have been Arman Tsarukyan.

With that in mind, is the Armenian-Russian the next title challenger? He already holds a (narrow) win over Oliveira…

On the topic of UFC ‘curses’, Oliveira has missed weight six times in his UFC career, and here’s why Alexander Volkanovski feared for the Brazilian on the scales yesterday – only for “Do Bronx” to make weight:

Another preview of tonight’s main event, and it all stems from a user’s comment on a Bloody Hellbow article last month…

“Interesting stat: Eddie Alvarez is the last LW [lightweight] champion to lose his title in the Octagon.”

That was back in 2016, when Alvarez was deconstructed by Conor McGregor.

Here’s a look at the unusual, broken lineage of the UFC lightweight title, and why it may not get better any time soon:

So, when Topuria backed Alexander Volkanovski up to the fence at UFC 298, a sickening, ominous feeling must have risen from the pit of many a stomach.

And when the Spanish-Georgian drilled a right hook into the chin of the most dominant 145lb champion in a decade, removing the strength from Volkanovski’s legs, the light from his eyes and the cognition from his mind, what was there to do but bow a head in grudging acceptance? To bow down to the new featherweight king.

Topuria’s second-round debilitation of Volkanovski was his first of a fan favourite and divisional great in 2024. Later in the year, he spoke similarly prophetically of what he would do to Max Holloway, and proceeded to do it.

With all of this in mind, it was natural for fans to fear for another beloved icon when Topuria said this month: “I feel so powerful at 155lb. When I touch Oliveira’s chin, it’ll explode.”

Topuria – 1/4; Oliveira – 3/1

Pantoja – 2/5; Kara-France – 2/1

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The early prelims are now under way!

We’ll give you a round-up of the early-prelim results at 1am BST, when those fights are in the books.

At that time, we’ll also begin our live, round-by-round updates as the regular prelims start.

Subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion:

Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira (vacant lightweight title)

Alexandre Pantoja (C) vs Kai Kara-France (flyweight title)

Beneil Dariush vs Renato Moicano (lightweight)

Brandon Royval vs Joshua Van (flyweight)

Payton Talbott vs Felipe Lima (bantamweight)

Jack Hermansson vs Gregory Rodrigues (middleweight)

Hyder Amil vs Jose Miguel Delgado (featherweight)

Viviane Araujo vs Tracy Cortez (women’s strawweight)

Terrance McKinney vs Viacheslav Borshchev (lightweight)

Sedrique Dumas vs Jackson McVey (middleweight)

Jhonata Diniz vs Alvin Hines (heavyweight)

Niko Price vs Jacobe Smith (welterweight)