Ilia Topuria knocks out Charles Oliveira in UFC 317 main event

Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria moved up to the lightweight division to pursue a second UFC divisional title. "El Matador" faced former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in the UFC 317 main event on Saturday for the vacant 155-pound championship.  

The lightweight championship was vacated by Islam Makhachev chasing the same aspirations as Topuria. Makhachev moved up to the welterweight division and is expected to compete for the 170-pound championship later this year.

The undefeated Topuria entered the fight coming off knockout wins over featherweight legends Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. He predicted that he'd do the same to Oliveira. 

Oliveira looked to become a two-time lightweight titleholder and made the walk to the octagon coming off a dominating performance over Michael Chandler at UFC 309 last November. 

Oliveira landed a leg kick to start the fight. Oliveira connected with a right hand. Topuria responded with a right hand. Oliveira closed the distance and worked to get the fight to the ground. He drug Topuria to the ground but Topuria gained top position. Topuria moved to side control. Oliveira got gack to his feet. Topuria connected a left hand that crumbled Oliveira.

The official time of the knockout was 2:27 of the first round. Topuria has knocked out three champions or former champions in a row.