Las Vegas — Newly crowned lightweight champion Ilia Topuria most certainly impressed boss Dana White at UFC 317 on Saturday.
White was in good spirits following the event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which capped off 2025’s International Fight Week. Topuria knocked out ex-champ Charles Oliveira inside of a round, claiming his second UFC championship after vacating his featherweight belt earlier this year.
Asked if the Georgian-Spaniard star might ascend to the level of a Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre, or Conor McGregor, White stated he had no doubt. “Yeah there’s no doubt about it. You obviously felt the energy in the building tonight. It was a big fight,” White told media outlets including Cageside Press. “And again, to go in and say exactly what you’re going to do and then do it the way that he did it, is impressive.”
Topuria later faced off with rival Paddy Pimblett, giving the British star a shove before the two were separated. Despite it being the obvious fight to make dating back to their 2022 incident in London, White was mum on the bout’s prospects.
“I don’t know who the hell let him in there, that should have never happened, let’s start there. I was already back in my room or that would have never happened,” stated White, unhappy with the face-off even taking place without his approval. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t really think about that stuff tonight, other than obviously the Van fight. We’ll see. We’ll see how this plays out.”
The Van fight (that would be Joshua Van) is a different story. Van earned Fight of the Night in a flyweight classic at UFC 317, defeating Brandon Royval and earning the next title shot despite being ranked #12 in the weight class heading into the bout. Still, it’s hard to argue against Van. He’s won five fights in nine months and is red hot. The UFC did face the pair off after the bout, a much more respectful affair.
White was very high on the fight, and for good reason. “Literally there were texts flying around from the truck and me and the matchmakers. Basically, going in, the beginning of the third round, they had already broke into the top 10 all time for significant strikes. And I think they ended up at 3 all time and crushed the record in their weight division. And broke another record too.”
With both men putting on a strong showing, White is opening up his pocketbook. “I’m going to pay Royval his win money,” he promised. “He took that fight with the #12-ranked guy on short notice and put on an absolute war. So those two are going to do well tonight, and it’s absolutely, positively deserved.”
Watch the full UFC 317 post-fight press conference with Dana White above.
