UFC 317! Craziest Card in a While!
The UFC has been putting on fight nights for a long time now. Along the way, we’ve had some great ones—and some duds. We’ve seen main events end in lackluster stare-downs, and we’ve also witnessed back-and-forth battles with both fighters swinging for the fences until one drops.
You can go as far back as Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar or Rory MacDonald vs “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler—all the way up to what we saw this past Saturday night in Josh Van vs Brandon Royval. That fight was one of the best we’ve watched in a long time. People have been saying it all week in the gyms. The MMA world felt refreshed by this past card, and that one fight had almost everything to do with it.
As a native of Houston, Texas, of course I was rooting for Josh Van. I had him winning by finish—but bet on him to win in general. Glad I did! I knew Brandon was going to bring the heat—but DANG, that was wild. I was talking a little smack on Instagram about Brandon Royval’s angry cry face, hoping to throw him off if he came across the post. I don’t know if he saw it, but whether it was me or anyone else, he didn’t let it faze him. If anything, it fueled him.
He came with a fire to prove how great he really is—at one point putting Van in serious trouble, throwing a barrage of deadly combinations. Van adjusted mid-fight and came back with some devastating shots of his own. These two were throwing hands in a way we haven’t seen in a long time. That kind of war is what represents the UFC at its core. Two warriors in there not just to win—but to take each other out. And these boys tried exactly that.
Together, they threw over 200 significant strikes EACH. That’s insane—those are straight-up UFC video game stats. That fight is going down in the books alongside the other legendary bouts we mentioned earlier.
Another amazing performance was Pantoja vs Kai Kara-France. It was Kai’s second crack at the reigning champ. Even though he put up a strong fight and didn’t get completely handled, history repeated itself. Pantoja came out with the submission win—which I also bet on!
Last but not least—Charles Oliveira vs Ilia Topuria. A true clash of titans. These are two of the best in their time and this era. Charles Oliveira, with a long, tested, and respected career, recently lost his 155 title to Islam Makhachev. But he came into this fight training like a man possessed, trying to win it back after Islam vacated the belt and moved to 170.
Charles had already taken out nearly every legend in the lightweight division. One more stood in his way: Ilia "El Matador" Topuria. The European monster who’s grabbed everyone’s attention since day one. The 17–0 powerhouse hasn’t just beaten opponents—he’s steamrolled them.
Starting from humble roots—born in Georgia, raised between Germany and Spain—Topuria and his brother gave up school at 15 to go all-in on this dream. From fighting in a small Spanish MMA scene to calling his shots and watching every goal materialize—he made it all the way to the UFC, and then to the top.
When he said he’d finish Charles in the first round by knockout—people believed him. And within 3 minutes, he did exactly that. Now he’s the double champ—holding both the 145 and 155 titles.
Since his arrival, fans and analysts have compared Ilia to “Prime Conor McGregor.” It’s sparked fun debates—Prime Conor vs Confident Topuria. It’s probably a mythical matchup that’ll never happen, but I’ll break that one down in another post.
Regardless of who won or lost this weekend—EVERYONE came to play. Dana’s gotta be happy, and judging by the internet, so is the rest of the MMA world.
As for us—we were in Louisiana backing up our coach Angel Pulido, who had an MMA fight that night. I remember telling him how I predicted Topuria would win against a taller opponent like Charles and how he could apply those same strategies to his own fight. It was pure domination.
Even the commentators were calling Angel a young Topuria! The plan worked—we got the win before Ilia fought, but it felt like he gave us a spiritual assist in that one. From beating a guy with Topuria tactics to ordering wings and watching Ilia seal the deal the same way—it was just surreal.
We were all screaming, laughing, and making core memories as a team.
Hope y’all had as much fun watching UFC 317 as we did!
Now it’s on to the next set of bangers…
What upcoming cards are YOU most excited to watch?