Watch Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira have surprisingly warm final UFC 317 face-off in front of Dana White
ILIA TOPURIA and Charles Oliveira took part in a respectful final face-off ahead of their lightweight title clash.
The pair will vie for the vacant 155lbs title early tomorrow morning in the main event of UFC 317 in Las Vegas.
3
The duo, 28 and 35 respectively, had no issues making weight for their eagerly anticipated Sin City showdown.
Topuria hit the scales first during the official weigh-ins at the UFC Apex, tipping the scales at 155lbs on the nose in his second outing in the division.
Former champ Oliveira, meanwhile, soon followed and also had no issue making the championship weight.
In fact, he came half a pound under at 154.5lbs and looked extremely gaunt.
All that remained after the duo's making of weight was for them to have a final face off at the ceremonial weigh ins.
Fan favourite Oliveira received a chorus of cheers as he took to the scales to ceremonially weigh in.
Topuria, meanwhile, was greeted by a chorus of boos but lapped them up.
Like their first face off on Thursday, the duo were cordial before staring intently in one another's eyes.
And they had a warm embrace before going their separate ways.
UFC supremo Dana White oversaw the weigh-in but wasn't called on to separate the pair.
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS
3
Both men can write UFC history with a win at the T-Mobile Arena this weekend.
Topuria can become only the tenth fighter in the promotion's 32-year-long history to hold titles in two divisions.
Oliveira, meanwhile, can become the first two-time lightweight champion in UFC history.
'Do Bronx', of course, lost the belt on the scales in May 2022 as he missed weight for what would've been his second title defence against Justin Gaethje.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
MLB roundup: Reds' Nick Martinez nearly no-hits Padres
June 28 - Nick Martinez carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning and Spencer Steer homered in each of his first three at-bats to lift the host Cincinnati Reds to an 8-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday. After allowing a two-out walk to Jackson Merrill in the first, Martinez (5-8) retired the next 22 batters before issuing a free pass to Trenton Brooks leading off the ninth. Elias Diaz ended the no-hit bid with a double into the left-center-field gap, bringing a close to Martinez's night after a career high-tying 112 pitches. Taylor Rogers entered the game and yielded two walks -- including one to Bryce Johnson with the bases loaded for a run that was charged to Martinez. Rogers, however, struck out two batters in one inning to send the Reds to their fourth win in the last five games. Martinez, who allowed one run on one hit with six strikeouts, was attempting to record Cincinnati's first no-hitter since Wade Miley tossed one against the Cleveland Guardians on May 7, 2021. Padres starter Dylan Cease (3-7) took the loss, permitting four runs (three earned) on five hits in four innings. He struck out eight and walked three. Cardinals 5, Guardians 0 Sonny Gray threw a one-hitter and struck out a season-high 11 and Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado drove in two runs apiece as visiting St. Louis beat Cleveland. Gray (8-2) only permitted a single to Nolan Jones in the fifth and did not issue a walk in his 89-pitch masterpiece. The Guardians failed to get the ball out of the infield until the fourth and did not advance a runner to second. The right-hander tossed his first shutout since July 28, 2015, and his first nine-inning complete game since Aug. 7, 2015. It was also Gray's first complete game since 2017. Guardians starter Luis Ortiz (4-9) worked seven innings, giving up four runs on six hits, with five strikeouts and one walk. The Guardians are 15-23 since May 13, when they were a season-high eight games over .500. Cleveland was shutout for the second straight game and has lost three of four on its homestand. Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 0 Jose Berrios tossed seven scoreless innings to lead visiting Toronto to a shutout victory over Boston. Berrios (4-3) limited Boston to four hits, struck out eight and walked one. Toronto's victory extended Boston's losing streak to six. The Red Sox have scored four runs in their last three games. Boston starting pitcher Brayan Bello (3-3) exited the mound after six innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits. Andres Gimenez had three hits and three RBIs as part of Toronto's 16-hit attack. The Blue Jays, who drew eight walks, also received three hits and two RBIs from George Springer. Dodgers 5, Royals 4 Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and added a tying RBI triple as Los Angeles won its fifth straight game, edging host Kansas City. The Royals matched a club record by taking their 11th consecutive home loss. Reliever Lou Trivino (3-0) pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings for the win. Tanner Scott got rookie Jac Caglianone to ground into a first-pitch 4-6-3 game-ending double play for his 18th save. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run homer and Kyle Isbel doubled twice, but the Royals dropped their sixth straight overall. Twins 4, Tigers 1 Byron Buxton hit a solo homer and David Festa pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings as visiting Minnesota downed Detroit. Brooks Lee drove in two runs, Willi Castro scored a run and knocked in another and Buxton scored two runs as the Twins won their third straight following a five-game losing streak. Festa (2-2) allowed just two hits and struck out six. Gleyber Torres had two hits and drove in the lone run for the Tigers, who have the best record in the American League. Starter Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-1) yielded three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. Pirates 9, Mets 1 Mitch Keller allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings to claim his first win since March 28 as host Pittsburgh rolled over New York. Bryan Reynolds hit a three-run homer and Alexander Canario cracked two doubles as the Pirates collected 12 hits to snap a two-game losing streak. Keller (2-10) scattered five hits and one walk while fanning four to snap a 15-start winless streak. Juan Soto poked his 20th homer to account for the Mets' run. David Peterson (5-4) surrendered five runs, seven hits and three walks while striking out five during his 4 2/3 innings. Brett Baty contributed two doubles. Orioles 22, Rays 8 Gary Sanchez hit a go-ahead home run and Colton Cowser doubled three times as Baltimore wiped out a six-run deficit to beat visiting Tampa Bay. Gunnar Henderson's four hits included a home run and a triple while Sanchez had four hits and drove in four runs as the Orioles snapped Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak. Coby Mayo homered and knocked in four runs and Jackson Holliday also homered as Tampa Bay tied its franchise record for most runs allowed in a game. Brandon Lowe's three-run homer was the third long ball of Tampa Bay's second inning, but his four runs batted in and three hits weren't nearly enough as the Rays lost for the second time in their last seven games. Jonathan Aranda and Josh Lowe also homered for Tampa Bay while Yandy Diaz and Danny Jansen added two hits apiece. Yankees 3, Athletics 0 Will Warren pitched five innings and combined with four relievers on a three-hitter as New York recorded a victory over the visiting Athletics, who lost for the fifth time in six games. Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in the second off starter Mitch Spence (2-3). Cody Bellinger and DJ LeMahieu hit RBI singles in the third and fourth, respectively, as the Yankees reached the halfway point with a 47-34 record. Warren struck out seven. The rookie right-hander tied a career high by issuing four walks and threw 100 pitches -- two shy of his career high. Meanwhile, Spence allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked four. Phillies 11, Braves 0 Philadelphia hit a season-high five home runs, including three-run shots by Nick Castellanos and Otto Kemp, to awaken its dormant bats en route to win over host Atlanta in the opener of a three-game series. Snapping a three-game skid, the Phillies also got a pair of solo homers from Trea Turner, the second coming in the ninth against position player Luke Williams. Kyle Schwarber added a two-run homer, his 25th, tied for second in the National League. Following a two-hour, 19-minute rain delay before the game, Atlanta starter Bryce Elder (2-5) was hammered for 10 runs (nine earned) in two-plus innings. He allowed eight hits and four walks with two strikeouts and saw his ERA soar from 4.77 to 5.82. Mariners 7, Rangers 6 (12 innings) Miles Mastrobuoni's single in the top of the 12th inning drove home Randy Arozarena with the deciding run as Seattle eked out a victory in Arlington, Texas. Mastrobuoni's two-out hit off Shawn Armstrong (2-3), the eighth Rangers pitcher, came after the substitute infielder made a clutch over-the-shoulder catch near the left field line in the bottom of the 11th to send the game to another inning. Eduard Bazardo (3-0) pitched the final two innings for Seattle, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Texas, which overcame a 5-1 deficit before falling, had won two straight. Giants 3, White Sox 1 Wilmer Flores doubled home a run, Patrick Bailey tripled in a pair and San Francisco opened a 10-game trip with a victory over Chicago. Landen Roupp (6-5) and four relievers helped the Giants rebound from a three-game home sweep at the hands of the Miami Marlins. San Francisco earned just its fourth victory in the past 12 contests. After the White Sox took advantage of a San Francisco error to go up 1-0 in the first, the Giants did the rest of the scoring, beginning with Flores' two-out double in the third. The Giants broke the tie against reliever Tyler Alexander (4-8) in the sixth on Bailey's two-run triple. Astros 7, Cubs 4 Yainer Diaz and Cam Smith slugged three-run home runs, and Brandon Walter earned his first career victory as host Houston topped Chicago in the opener of a three-game interleague series. The Astros stretched their winning streak to five games with their early power display against Cubs right-hander Cade Horton (3-2), who gave up seven runs on eight hits in four innings. Houston is 18-4 over its last 22 home games and is riding a nine-game home winning streak. Walter (1-1) worked around a leadoff triple from Dansby Swanson in the second and surrendered a homer to Nico Hoerner in the fifth. Walter allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts over six innings. For Chicago, Matt Shaw drove in three runs. Marlins 9, Diamondbacks 8 Otto Lopez went 3-for-5 with a homer, Kyle Stowers homered for the second straight game and Miami extended its season-best winning streak to five games with a victory over Arizona in Phoenix. Heriberto Hernandez homered, Stowers and Connor Norby had two hits apiece, and Lopez and Norby each scored twice. The Marlins had 13 hits, the fifth straight game with 10 more. Lopez is 15-for-32 (.469) with 10 RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak. Jake McCarthy, Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas homered for the Diamondbacks, who scored three runs in the ninth inning and had runners on first and third with one out before Tyler Phillips got Tim Tawa to ground into game-ending double play. Brewers 10, Rockies 6 Jackson Chourio homered and drove in four runs, Caleb Durbin finished with three hits and host Milwaukee beat Colorado. Sal Frelick, William Contreras and Brice Turang had two hits each for Milwaukee, which has won three in a row. Thairo Estrada and Braxton Fulford had three hits apiece and Jordan Beck contributed two hits for Colorado. The Rockies have lost seven of their last eight. Nationals 15, Angels 9 Brady House's tiebreaking double in the seventh inning helped lift Washington to a comeback victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif. Each Nationals batter had at least one hit and drove in at least a run, with eight of them scoring at least once. Friday marked just the second time in the franchise's history where all nine starting batters had an RBI. Jo Adell, Nolan Schanuel and Taylor Ward all homered for the Angels, who couldn't hold on after leading 5-2, 7-5 and 9-8. Brad Lord (2-5) got the win over Sam Bachman (1-1). --Field Level Media
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Pimblett one fight from title shot
Britain's Paddy Pimblett is "one fight away" from securing a title shot, says former featherweight champion Ilia is eighth in the UFC's lightweight rankings after securing the biggest win of his career with a dominant win over Michael Chandler in month 30-year-old Pimblett said he was targeting a fight next against Topuria or Justin Gaethje in Abu Dhabi in who faces Brazil's Charles Oliveira for the lightweight belt at UFC 317 in Las Vegas on Saturday, is open to fighting Pimblett if he beats someone else first."I see that fight happening. He has to be ready because he doesn't make those kind of decisions. It's me who decides when, where and against who," Topuria told BBC Sport. "The only thing I can tell him is 'be ready'. Whenever you get the call you show up, you do your thing, you get your money, you go back home."He's one fight away from the title shot. So if he gets that win of course we are going to have that fight and I'm gonna whoop his ass."Topuria has history with Pimblett after the pair clashed at a hotel before UFC London in the pair in different weight divisions, it looked like a fight may never materialise, but that changed when Topuria vacated his featherweight title this year to move up to lightweight. 'I had to almost kill myself to make 145lb' Topuria, 28, has won the first 16 fights of his career and had a remarkable 2024, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title last meant Topuria, who holds Georgian citizenship, became Spain's first UFC champion, before he was granted Spanish citizenship by President Pedro knocked out another former champion in Max Holloway in October, before vacating the belt in April to move up to his success at featherweight, Topuria says the decision to move up was based on the toll the division was having on his physical health."I really belong to this this weight class. I had to almost kill myself to make the 145lb (10st 3lb) division," said Topuria."I feel much comfortable. I feel even more powerful in this weight division."And this is actually the first time I have been able to enjoy the whole process like the training - even the weight cut - because it's much much easier."From one to 10, at featherweight when I was fighting at this point I was feeling at five. And now I feel at nine." The title opportunity arose after it was announced champion Islam Makhachev would be vacating his belt to move up to champion Oliveira is second in the UFC lightweight rankings and holds a number of records in the promotion, including most finishes with 20 and most submissions with Volkanovski and Holloway, 35-year-old Oliveira is one of the most popular fighters on the roster, meaning Topuria may find himself in the familiar position of fans rooting against him."I can't feel like the bad guy because this is nothing personal. I don't have anything personal against them," said Topuria."This is sport. We compete and I hope that the best wins. I truly believe that I'm the best."
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Less death, more social media: Formula One films decades apart reveal a changed world
'Let's try to get the season off to a good start, shall we? Drive the car. Don't try to stand it on its bloody ear.' Have you watched the movie? It's about a rule-breaking American Formula One driver, the kind who blows past blue flags and crashes into his own teammate. You must have heard of it. They shot it in real race cars, across some of the most prestigious circuits in the world. It even had contemporary world championship drivers making notable cameos on the track. If you've never watched 1966's Grand Prix, now is the time to do it. This summer's blockbuster slot may belong to F1; and its director, Joseph Kosinski, may have gone to extraordinary lengths to capture the visceral speed of the fastest class in motor sport. But John Frankenheimer got there first. The close parallels between the two films have gone largely unremarked in the reviews. Six decades ago, when the glamour of the sport was peaking, Frankenheimer set out to capture its thrill, daring and inescapable danger. He fixed cameras to the chassis of Formula Two cars – the same substitute Kosinski has used – that hared round Brands Hatch, Spa, Monaco. Like Kosinski, he spliced real race footage into his own. His American lead, James Garner, did his own driving, just like Brad Pitt. There are even occasional shots in Kosinski's film that seem to pay tribute, intentional or not, to its predecessor – the moment that recalls Frankenheimer's stylistic use of split-screen, or when Pitt jogs around the old Monza banking. F1 the Movie, to be clear, is a billion-dollar industry giving itself a full valet – shampooed squeaky clean and buffed to an impossible sheen. But it's also the kind of sports-washing I'm prepared to indulge for the sake of the pure adrenaline thrill. After watching Top Gun: Maverick at the cinema, I walked straight back in for the next screening and sat in the front row so I could pretend to be in the cockpit. At the Imax this week I was practically climbing into the screen. I was definitely the only woman my age leaning into the turns, and wishing they would stop cutting back to Pitt's face so that I got more track time. For a bit of perspective, I had gone with my father, a man with a decades-long following of motor sport and a habit of nitpicking at movie details. Ten minutes into F1's opening track sequence he leaned over, and I braced for a critique of the pit crew's refuelling technique. 'We can go home now,' he whispered. 'It's good enough already.' A movie that can impress my father with its motor racing action deserves all the hype it gets. But neither he nor I had anticipated just how much it would remind us of Grand Prix – or how well that 59-year-old work would stand up in comparison. The Silverstone marching band, paraded past the clubhouse by a moustachioed sergeant-major, has given way to night-race fireworks in Las Vegas, and the ruinous cost of running an F1 team has jumped from a few hundred thousand to £100m. The stomach-buzz as the asphalt whizzes beneath you remains the same. Putting the two stories side by side does, however, show you interesting ways the sport has changed. Grand Prix's opening lingers, fetishistically, over images of working pistons and twisting wrenches. Such lowly mechanical details are almost entirely absent in F1, where the team headquarters looks like a space station and every element of the engineering process is rendered in gleaming sci-fi. There's also a lot less death. Frankenheimer's crashes are genuinely shocking – not because the stunts are realistic (and they are) but because of the bluntness of their outcome. Drivers are catapulted from their seats to fall on whatever part of the landscape they meet first. Spectators aren't safe either. The fact that horrifying incidents are a part of the public's fascination with Formula One is a recurring theme. F1 still plays on the life-or-death stakes, but does it in a very different way, as you'd expect from a film licensed by the governing body as a big-screen advert for the sport. It's also pretty keen that everyone you meet on screen shows motor racing in a good light. Team principals are loving family men! Drivers' managers are cuddly BFFs! People cycle eco-consciously to work! Everyone is so empathic and good at giving advice! It was the latter that had me balking at the chutzpah. There's a point where our hero tells the rookie to stop thinking about his social media. The hype, the fan engagement – 'it's all just noise,' he says. This in a movie that was produced, at phenomenal cost, as a method of growing hype and fan engagement. The film's only baddy, meanwhile, is a corporate investor, who we know must be a bad 'un because he spends his time schmoozing The Money in hospitality. Here's a game for you when you're watching F1: try to go two minutes without seeing or hearing the name of a brand that's paid to be there. I left the auditorium still blinking the name of accountancy software. By contrast, Frankenheimer's film seems bracingly honest. In Grand Prix, the drivers may have moments of self-reflection but they're also uncompromisingly selfish in their pursuit. The philosophical Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sarti suggests they live in denial: 'To do something very dangerous requires a certain absence of imagination.' 'Why do we do it? Why not tennis, or golf?' It's the question at the centre of every motor-racing film. In Le Mans, Steve McQueen answered by stripping out everything but the sound and feel of the track. F1's hero describes the feeling when he's 'flying' (not for nothing does he arrive walking down the tarmac, carrying a duffel like a certain fighter pilot). Perhaps that's what makes motor racing ripe for big-screen treatment – it's the most literally escapist form of sport there is. If F1 gives it the glossy treatment, Grand Prix sees beneath the sheen.
