UFC 317 preview roundtable: As Ilia Topuria kicks off a new era as a lightweight — how does this all play out?
Plenty of intrigue to go around, and so we asked the five burning questions heading into the summer's big pay-per-view.
Some say Ilia Topuria looks like he's fresh off a GQ shoot every time he appears in public. (Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images)
(Borja B. Hojas via Getty Images)
1. Now that the dust has settled, how will Ilia Topuria look as a lightweight? Is this weight class better suited to him than 145?
Petesy: What kind of an idiot would I be to say that 155 pounds suits him better at this point, Chuck? We saw him fight there once against Jai Herbert, and let's not forget the 'Black County Banger' made him briefly eat the canvas in that London showdown before Herbert was ultimately KO'd in the second round.
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What I'm trying to say is, he KO'd Max Holloway and Alex Volkanovski at featherweight, how the hell could he improve on that at 155? I will say that I'm far more excited for this fight than I thought I would be. It took me a while to get over the initial letdown of Islam moving up, but I'm absolutely buzzing now. This guy is making me so excited about the sport again and pitted against 'Do Bronx' this Saturday night, there's no way this fight doesn't deliver.
I suppose if he had KO'd Islam in his lightweight debut I could've made that argument, but as we know my friend, we cannot have nice things anymore.
Chuck: Can't have nice things at all. Just to illustrate that — and not sure I ever made it public — but there were a couple of Jon Jones fights I really wanted back in the day. A fight against Francis Ngannou and another one against Tom Aspinall, and neither of them, as they say in the bible, came to pass.
But you ask what kind of an idiot? I'll tell you what kind of idiot. This kind of idiot, Petesy! I keep forgetting about that Herbert fight that happened just three short years ago at lightweight. Sheesh. But you're right, much easier to see Topuria looking human at 155 pounds than at featherweight. I will say that he has stated again and again that the weight cut was the main reason for the skedaddle, and I know he walks around at more than 180 pounds. He might have a little adjustment period, but my guess is he can shine just as bright at lightweight, and if he doesn't have to kill himself to make the weight?
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Well, then it's a great move.
2. What's better for the UFC: Charles Oliveira as the next lightweight champion or Ilia Topuria?
Chuck: Listen, Charles has a cult following. People who keep but a wandering eye on MMA know who 'Do Bronx' is. He is the king of Sao Paulo. He likes horses, which therefore attracts a certain kind of equestrian type. They are putting him in the HOF this week as part of Forrest Griffin's charitable arm. He has more UFC records that Ilia does fights at lightweight.
I'll go ahead and say it: Charles Oliveira is a damn hero.
So don't go blaspheming this space by saying Topuria is the obvious choice here, and doubly/especially don't you dare go supporting such a case by pointing out his magazine cover good looks!
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Petesy: You're taking the piss with these questions, Mindenhall. I think UFC would probably go for the guy that looks like he's fresh off a GQ shoot every time he appears in public. You know, the same guy who got a standing ovation when he appeared on the hallowed turf of the Santiago Bernebeu with his featherweight title before the Real Madrid players swarmed around him to offer him congratulations.
Look, I love Chucky Olives as much as the next guy (though maybe not as much as you, from the looks of it), but Topuria is on that McGregor ascendency. He makes me feel like a spellbound youngster watching Wanderlei Silva impale randos at the end of his butchers' hooks in the early noughties all over again.
Topuria, and it's not even close.
3. If Alexandre Pantoja successfully defends his title for the fourth time, where do you rank him among the all-time UFC flyweights?
Petesy: Now you're talking! I think he's the best flyweight not named Demetrious Johnson we've seen in the UFC. He's grown on the fan base so much. I remember back in our Ringer days we lamented nobody really gave him the love he deserved when he gave an impassioned speech about his father after winning the title. If he gets through Kai Kara-France this weekend, I'd love to see the UFC pursue that champ showdown with Merab Dvalishvili, which brings me back to the point I made previously about not being able to have nice things.
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Chuck: The Merab fight would be incredible for a lot of reasons, but the biggest being I think Pantoja presents the most problems for him. That is, if he gets by Kara-France (which I think he will).
The question is where we'd rank him, though, and we're in agreement on this one — I will have him ranked just behind Demetrious Johnson. It might be a minute before he catches Mighty Mouse, but I find it somewhat incredible he emerged from the dust storm Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo left after their dramatic miniseries. Not only that, but he has a level of nasty that I am not sure any other champion has once that door latches. Dude just gets mean.
(Here's hoping we do get that Merab-Pantoja fight though, I mean, we already know we don't get nice things.)
Joshua Van kicks Bruno Silva in a flyweight bout during UFC 316 at the Prudential Center on June 7, 2025, in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo)
(Elsa via Getty Images)
4. Given he's stepping up on short notice and accelerating as a contender, should Joshua Van get a title shot next with a victory over one-time title challenger Brandon Royval?
Chuck: I think it would be a tremendous thing if Van goes in there and smokes Royval the way he did Bruno Gustavo de Silva, like, what was it? Checks notes … three freaking weeks ago! He would be a flyweight meteorite heading right for bloody Pantoja's heart.
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I do see him as that guy if everything goes to plan. Why not? The UFC had another young gun coming up in Mohammad Mokaev in that division, and instead of giving him a title shot they punted him into the lesser-lit theaters out in Bahrain. Van at least has a lot of eyes on him as he makes the push.
Petesy: Well, if they're not doing the Merab fight, why the hell not! I love this kid. So young, so good, and he has shown a keen prey drive when he smells blood in the water. I picked him at the start of the year as one of the guys to watch in 2025, and that pick has stood the test of time a lot better than my top pick in that category, whom I believe we're discussing next …
5. Of the burgeoning stars on the card, who has the brightest future in fighting: Payton Talbott, Joshua Van or Jacobe Smith?
Petesy: There he is! Payton Talbott, whom I picked as my top Breakout Star of the Year for 2025, which has become more cursed than Drake's sports betting picks. That's right, the year before it was Benoit Saint-Denis, and we all know what happened in his first fight of 2024 when he ran into a supposedly cooked Dustin Poirier.
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I'm actually more excited about Jacobe since I read your profile on him. He had a helluva debut against Preston Parsons, and I think warlord Niko Price will provide him with another massive opportunity for a highlight reel knockout. Gotta be Van for me, though. The age, the skill ... he seems to be the full package.
Chuck: Yeah, Van is the closest to breaking through in the short term. I am not entirely sold on Payton Talbott after that stuff he pulled against Raoni Barcelos back in January, especially given that I wrote a massive profile on him. His wrestling left a lot to be desired. (And by a lot, I mean all of it — all of the desire).
I think Smith has a great shot to make waves at welterweight. He's a dude who trains with all the right guys, he has that wrestling pedigree from having competed at Oklahoma State, and he has a wicked stand-up game, as we saw earlier this year in that KO of Parsons. Who else is out there calling out the Russian wrestlers if he wins?
This is a guy who really believes he can beat the best of the best by dragging them into his world, and I find that type of alpha brain intriguing.
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