Ilia Topuria KOs Charles Oliveira in first round of UFC 317 main event

LAS VEGAS – Ilia Topuria’s quest to become the greatest UFC fighter of all time received a significant boost on Saturday night, as the 28-year-old put down Charles Oliveira with a vicious combination of strikes at 2:27 in the first round to win the UFC lightweight championship.  

Topuria’s win makes him the first undefeated two-division champion in UFC history and the 10th fighter to achieve the feat with the company overall. His execution of Oliveira marked the third consecutive future Hall-of-Famer he’s added to his graveyard, as the Brazilian joins Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway among Topuria’s distinguished list of victims.

Topuria fulfilled a promise he made frequently throughout the week–that he’d finish Oliveira within the first two or three minutes of the fight. Dana White called Topuria’s prophetic shot-calling “some (Muhammad) Ali shit”, which is one of the greatest compliments one could receive from the UFC president. 

“If you look at what he's accomplished in his last three fights, tonight was like his big coming-out party,” White said. “He moved up to win another title and did it in spectacular fashion. He couldn't do any better, like some Ali shit, saying, ‘I want to knock him out in the first round’, and viciously knocked him out in the first round. I think tonight we have a star on our hands.”

Some fireworks followed the conclusion of the main event, as prospective title challenger Paddy Pimblett entered the Octagon and engaged in a tense faceoff and war of words with Topuria as the champion celebrated with his family. The pay-per-view ended with Topuria shoving Pimblett, completing the WWE-ification of the UFC following last year’s widely publicized merger between the two combat sports giants. 

While Pimblett’s cameo would suggest that the Liverpool, England native is first in line to challenge Topuria for the lightweight title, White was reluctant to commit to the matchup and admitted that Pimblett had no business being in the Octagon.

“I don't know who the hell let him in there,” White said. “That should have never happened. Let's start there. I was already back in my room, or that would have never happened. But I don't know (about a fight). I don’t really think about that stuff tonight.”

Topuria is now 17-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career, with nine of those wins coming in UFC competition and seven of those wins coming by knockout.