UFC 317 - Rising and Falling
Doesn't look like this guy can be stopped...
UFC 317 was a card that seemed fine on paper and turned out to be quite good in practice. Some quality matchups, two title fights, and some much needed focus on up and coming talents that deserve an opportunity to move up in their divisions.
Rising
Ilia Topuria - No need for any preamble here: Ilia Topuria might be the biggest boogeyman in the UFC right now.
Yes, Islam Makhachev is the grappling demigod, and his level of control is extraordinary. He ragdolls people and makes it look easy. But Topuria is putting people on ice. Charles Oliveira has a button, and it’s been touched before. And he made some sloppy mistakes in the boxing exchanges. Man, did Ilia make him pay for that. Still undefeated and wiping out top contenders and champs like this have solidified him to the pantheon of greats already. This is a Hall of Fame career as it stands right now.
Alexandre Pantoja - Another champion that’s quietly inching further up into all-time great conversation. Is he the best flyweight ever? Too early to tell. But at this rate, can anyone dispute that he could easily break the title defense or win records held by Demetrious Johnson? He’s on his way there, and finishing Kai Kara-France like that shows he’s not slowing down.
Joshua Van - Van doesn’t get another finish, but he gets Fight of the Night honors against a very tough and very game Brandon Royval. He extends his win streak to five, keeps moving up in a tightly crowded division where it’s hard to stand out, and is clearly still improving. You may have noticed he was in the last one of these pieces, because this is his second straight PPV appearance. He might as well fight on the next one, too. I’ll watch this guy any day of the week.
Gregory Rodrigues - Wasn’t all that jazzed about this fight before the event happened, but goddamn, what a highlight. Boxing with Gregory is a fool’s errand, and he managed to send Jack the Joker to the realm of kaleidoscopes. The followup shot was in bad form, I absolutely hated it. It was an uncharacteristic dick move from him, and he really shouldn’t have done it. Yeah, the ref should have prevented it, but it’s done now.
Main point here is that Gregory had another moment where he can stand out from the nebulous crowd in the middle of the middleweight division, seeing as neither of these guys was ranked. Good to have some momentum.
Jose Delgado - Well, shit. Totally did not see that coming. Then again, neither did Hyder Amil. I completely wrote him off on this one, and he delivered big against another absolutely vicious prospect. Lovely performance that will do him some big favors in terms of visibility.
Terrance McKinney - Another great win for Scrappy Terry, giving him back to back wins after his loss to Esteban Ribovics, and you can tell that felt good to him. As it should, a well-earned victory that keeps him rolling along at lightweight.
Jacobe Smith got a solid submission win against veteran Niko Price, and that I can only hope that they don’t rush his development despite his amazing skills. Tracy Cortez, Beneil Dariush and Payton Talbott gutted out some good decision wins, while Jhonata Diniz and Alvin Hines put on a very rare thing: a decent action heavyweight opener. It wasn’t pretty, but it got fun and fulfilled its purpose.
Falling
Charles Oliveira - Look, his stock doesn’t take the biggest hit, but it takes a hit. Chuckie Olives got some big moments and a lotta miles. And those miles look like they have added up here, too. This isn’t a question of whether or not he’s still good, but rather how much longer will he remain an elite talent? Because this kind of finish is the kind that makes you worry about someone long-term. His chances of any upward mobility from here on in look damn near impossible as well. Hope he recovers from this as well as possible.
Jack Hermansson - Oof. Jack needed to be put in rice after that. Not sure what’s next here as he’s been alternating wins and losses since his loss to Sean Strickland in 2022. He’s out of the top 15 and may not make it back into it at this rate.
Niko Price - Price came into the UFC in 2016 and started off looking pretty good. It’s been a rough road and this is now his second straight loss. He’s gone out on worse terms in some of his UFC losses, but at this age and stage of his career, it’s another situation looking sadder and sadder.
Neither
Kai Kara-France did what he could, but ultimately Pantoja seems slightly more than human right now. Viviane Araujo didn’t have the best chance to win that fight, so it is what it is.
Viacheslav Borshchev is in a similar boat. Hyder Amil suffered a crushing loss, but it’s not something he can’t bounce back from. Renato Moicano and Felipe Lima suffered decision losses, but I doubt this will set them back too much. And Brandon Royval loses nothing after that performance, he should be fine.
