UFC 317 delivered an entertaining night of fights for 2025’s International Fight Week closer. The 11-fight card featured six finishes including two to cap off the night. In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja successfully defended his flyweight belt, submitting Kai Kara-France in the third round. In the main event, for the vacant lightweight championship, Illia Topuria flatlined Charles Oliveira to successfully become the only undefeated double champion in UFC history. The losers off of this card are some high-ranking fighters so the matchups produced from this event will be some high stakes affairs.
Charles Oliveira
Illia Topuria took just one round to KO Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title in the main event of UFC 317 on Saturday. Charles has now gone 3-3 in his last six fights since losing the belt in March of 2022 (as a result of missing weight ahead of his victory over Justin Gaethje). Saturday was a humbling showing for Charles as it was the first time UFC fans have seen him flatlined in 15 years and 35 fights with the promotion. Charles turns 36 later this year and could face whispers from the fan base of considering retirement.
However, Oliveira’s next matchup has a lot to do with what direction UFC brass want to go in as well as a couple of fight outcomes. Oliveira would be an excellent litmus test for a fighter like Paddy Pimblett who is currently ranked at #8 in the lightweight division. Many have debated whether Paddy has truly faced elite level competition on his ascent thru the rankings. Oliveira would offer just that.
However, a matchup against a former featherweight like Max Holloway would also draw a lot of fans. And both fighters are now at similar stages of their careers with their shared fight outcomes against Illia. Max is currently ranked at #4 in the lightweight division. Holloway is scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier for the BMF belt on July 19th (Poirier has already announced that it’ll be his retirement fight). Great fights either way all depends on Oliveira’s recovery timeline amongst other moving parts.
Oliveira’s next fight: Max Holloway or Paddy Pimblett
Kai Kara-France
Kai Kara-France looked completely outgunned and overmatched on his way to a third-round submission defeat at the hands of the UFC flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja, in the UFC 317 co-headliner. Kara-France has now actually lost three of his last four fights, beginning with an unsuccessful title shot against Brandon Moreno in July of 2022. Kara-France was ranked at #4 headed into this bout.
Kai has a couple of different directions he can go in here based on timing. Manel Kape, who is ranked at #6, would be an excellent opponent but he is currently recovering from injury. A rematch with Brandon Royval could also make sense. Kara-France lost to Royval in 2020 via second round submission. Royval also lost on Saturday. But the fight that would make the most sense would be for Kai to face the winner of Asu Almabayev vs Ramazan Temirov. That fight goes down on July 26. Not too bad in terms of timing-but Asu is ranked at #8 while Ramazan Temirov is ranked at #13.
Almabayev was 4-0 in the UFC until he was stopped, albeit controversially, by Manel Kape in the third round of their fight back in March. Temirov had his first fight in the UFC in just October of last year, stopping CJ Vegara in the first round. Temirov was last in the cage back in March when he defeated Charles Johnson. Putting Kai against the winner of this bout would insert some fresh faces with some impressive records into the mix of the elite ranks. Could make for an interesting fight night main event as well.
Kara-France’s next fight: Asu Almabayev vs Ramazan Temirov winner or Manel Kape
Brandon Royval
Brandon Royval lost an epic unanimous decision against short notice replacement, Joshua Van, on Saturday. Royval was booked to take on Manel Kape but that fight was called off after Kape suffered a foot injury. That fight was originally supposed to take place back in March, but Royval had to withdraw from that bout with an injury of his own. Royval entered the fight ranked at #1 while Van was ranked at #12. Huge upset.
This bout scored a Fight of the Night bonus and Royval also received his win bonus for his phenomenal effort. Royval should have his fight with Kape rebooked for his next outing. Thats what makes the most sense especially with the fight outcome Saturday (and Van likely fighting for the belt). If that fight doesn’t materialize then potentially giving Royval, the winner of #14 Kai Asakura vs #10 Tim Elliot could be a good fight too. But that’s also another risky fight for Brandon after he just took one on Saturday. Ideal world, Kape is healed up by years end and hopefully they can get something in by 2026.
Royval’s next fight: Manel Kape or Tim Elliot vs. Kai Asakura winner
Renato Moicano
Renato Moicano lost a competitive unanimous decision to Beneil Dariush on the main card of UFC 317 on Saturday. The two were originally supposed to fight back in January before Renato was rebooked (saving the UFC 311 main event opposite Islam Makhachev). Moicano has now lost two fights in a row since ripping off his four-fight win streak featuring three finishes from 2022-2024. Dariush entered the fight ranked at #9 while Moicano was ranked at #11.
Renato should take on Joel Alvarez in his next fight. Joel is 7-2 with the UFC since being signed in 2019 and is ranked at #15. Alvarez is on a three-fight win streak stopping Marc Diakiese, Elves Brener and most recently, Drakkar Klose, back in December. Joel was slated to take on Benoit Saint-Denis on May 10 but withdrew from that bout. BSD fought Renato in September of last year losing via doctor’s stoppage. This fight would be a great matchup between two pretty rangy strikers and would be a fun scrap for fans. Could easily be on a PPV card main card as well. Winner propels themselves into the top 10 of the lightweight division with an impressive finish.
Moicano’s next fight: Joel Alvarez
Felipe Lima
Felipe Lima was outfought by Payton Talbott on the way to a unanimous decision defeat to open up the main card of UFC 317 on Saturday. It was Lima’s first time competing at bantamweight within the UFC as he was 2-0 as a featherweight under the promotional banner.
A good opponent for Lima would be a fighter like John Castaneda. The 2017 Contender Series alum is 4-4 with the UFC but has consistently had trouble making 135lbs. He’s a tough scrappy fighter that’s always in high-action competitive bouts. Castaneda last fought back in April when he dropped a split decision to Chris Gutierrez. That’d be a high talent level ‘under-the-radar’ type of fight that a lot of hardcore fans would tune in for. A backup option for Lima would be the Da’Mon Blackshear vs Davey Grant fight winner. That fight is scheduled for July 26. Both fighters are grappling heavy and with an impressive win out of either man it could make sense for a date with Lima. However, the optimal matchup is definitely Castaneda.
Lima’s next fight: John Castaneda or Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Davey Grant winner
