The showpiece of the sport takes place in Las Vegas this week with a celebration of the UFC at International Fight Week for UFC 317.
Two title fights will take place in the Lightweight and Flyweight divisions to go along with a festival of events in the fight capital of the world.
Former Featherweight champion Illia Topuria goes up a division to attempt to become a two weight division champion for the vacant lightweight title against Charles Oliveira.
And in the co-main event Alexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight title against kiwi Kai Kara-France.
Our full preview and UFC 317 betting plays can be found below.
Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira
Islam Makhachev vacated his lightweight belt in an attempt to become a double champ and this has opened the door for Spaniard Ilia Topuria to achieve the same feat.
Following a similar pathway to Conor McGregor, Topuria is undefeated in 16 professional MMA fights and won the featherweight title against Alexander Volkanovski in early 2024.
Unlike McGregor he defended his belt before deciding to move up to lightweight.
Charles Oliveira is a former champion of the lightweight division and holds the UFC record for most finishes which includes an astounding 21 victories by submission.
He lost his belt against Islam Makhachev in 2022 but has gone 2-1 since, to earn another chance at UFC gold.
This is a fascinating contest between two of the highest level mixed martial artists in the entire sport.
The rising superstar in his prime at 28 years of age, looking to cement his legacy forever and an aging Brazilian grappling genius looking to ascend the top of the mountain once more.
Oliveira has had his issues making weight and will likely have a size advantage but there is no flaw in Topuria’s game as far as we have seen.
There will be a feeling out process in the early rounds and if Topuria can keep this fight on the feet I believe he has a significant striking advantage and can get a late finish or win the fight on points.
2 Units Illia Topuria in round 4, 5 or by decision @ $3.75
Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Kara France
He’s only 32 years of age but Kai Kara-France has been a fighting warrior for most of his life.
Just like his teammate and friend Israel Adesanya, he fought all over Asia as a man, basing himself at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand and plying his trade in China, Malaysia, Japan as well as Australian and New Zealand.
He failed to earn a UFC contract in 2016 when he lost an extremely close decision to a little known Brazilian but found his way back a couple of years later.
That man was Alexandre Pantoja.
That fight on TUF was a sliding doors moment as Pantoja went on a successful run in the UFC, eventually winning the flyweight title against Brandon Moreno in 2023.
He has now defended his belt on three occasions including beating Aussie Steve Erceg in a close decision.
Kai has been here before, failing in his quest for gold against Brandon Moreno when he copped a vicious body kick that put him to the canvas in 2022 and he will be eager to achieve his ultimate goal in his second chance.
His confidence will be high having had plenty of success in their first encounter, albeit a long time ago, but this kiwi has plenty of grit and determination and you know he’ll leave everything out there.
It’s a tough challenge but at these sorts of odds I’m happy to have a small play.
½ Unit Kai Kara France By KO/TKO @ $7.00
Brandon Royval vs Joshua Van
I’m not sure I’m more excited by a prospect in the entire UFC than I am about Joshua Van.
Not just because of his slick boxing, distance control and power but because he has the attitude that I personally love to see.
He’s won all but one of his eight fights in the UFC and he fought, and won, just three weeks ago!
After that win in Newark he said he was willing to fight as soon as possible against the toughest opponent possible and he has gotten his wish!
Brandon Royval made his UFC debut in 2020 and has lost just three times since.
All three losses have been against former or current champions of the division and he avenged once by beating Brandon Moreno in February of 2024.
I have a lot of faith in Joshua Van but I can’t help thinking that there is some recency bias at play considering he has gone up even money against a much more accomplished and experienced opponent on such short notice.
I simply can’t back against him, as is his level of boxing skill, but I do think this fight will be decided by the judges.
2 Units Fight To Go The Distance @ $1.52
Beneil Dariush vs Renato Moicano
There is always one fight on the main card that is a hidden gem and this is it!
Neither of these men are in their fighting prime but both have been in the lightweight rankings for a very long time.
Dariush put together eight wins in a row but his title aspirations were put on hold with back to back losses to Charles Oliveira and Armen Tsarukyan during 2023.
A torn ligament in his knee in mid 2024 and a rescheduled bout with Moicano at the start of this year means we haven’t seen him for quite some time in the octagon.
Moicano will compete in his 28th pro MMA fight on Sunday at 36 years of age.
He suffered just one loss from 2021-2024 including wins over Jalin Turner, Brad Riddell and Benoit Saint-Denis.
A chance to claim UFC gold as a last minute replacement was lost against Islam Makhachev but he had little time to prepare for his opponent that night.
As far as high level mixed martial artists go, and similar to the main event, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Both of these men are exceptional grapplers, and have black belts in BJJ, and also high level strikers.
Don’t let their ages fool you, this is a cracker of a fight.
The threat that Moicano poses on the canvas is somewhat countered by the abilities of Dariush and I believe he can win enough points on the feet to get the job done.
2 Units Beneil Dariush To Win $2.15
Payton Talbott vs Felipe Lima
Payton Talbott entered the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series with plenty of hype around him.
He had an unbeaten record at bantamweight including seven knockout wins from before suffering his first loss at the hands of Raoni Barcelos who is an extremely high level opponent.
At just 26 years of age, he will learn a lot from that experience and will be looking to bounce back to winning ways on Sunday.
Felipe Lima lost his first ever pro MMA fight in 2018 but has not tasted defeat since.
He comes into this fight on the back of 14 straight wins including two in the UFC.
This is an intriguing way to start the pay-per-view card between two very dangerous, young fighters and I’m backing one of them to get a finish.
1 Unit Fight Does Not Go The Distance @ $1.65