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New Zealand’s UFC star Kai Kara-France came up short in his flyweight division title challenge yesterday.
Kara-France was submitted in a dominant display from Brazilian Alexandre Pantoja, as the New Zealander tapped out in the third round of the UFC 317 co-main event in Las Vegas.
After a dominant first two rounds from Pantoja, the Brazilian dragged Kara-France to the mat early in the third round.
He used a rear naked choke to eventually force Kara-France to tap out, defending his title for the fourth-consecutive time.
It was Kara-France’s second UFC title challenge, having also fallen short against Brandon Moreno in a third-round TKO loss for the interim belt in 2022.
In the other main bout Ilia Topuria made good on his promise to finish Charles Oliveira in the first two or three rounds.
He knocked out the future UFC hall-of-famer with an explosive combo 2min 27sec into the fight, claiming the vacant UFC lightweight crown.
Topuria’s win makes him the first undefeated two-division champion in UFC history and the 10th overall.
The 28-year-old, who fights under Georgian and Spanish nationalities, ranks third on UFC’s pound-for-pound list.
Twelfth-ranked lightweight Joshua Van and top contender Brandon Royval engaged in a captivating stand-up brawl that has a legitimate chance at going down as the fight of the year.
The performance marked Van’s second win in three weeks, after he beat Bruno Gustavo Da Silva at UFC 316 on June 7.
Van knocked Royval down in the closing seconds of the fight, before the final bell rang to the loudest crowd pop of the evening.
Van won by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards. — APL/Reuters