Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) needed only 147 seconds to take out Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira by first-round knockout to win the lightweight title in Saturday’s UFC 317 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Topuria bagged an extra $50,000 with a Performance of the Night bonus to highlight an outstanding 11-fight card that capped International Fight Week. He remained undefeated and made a strong case for consideration as the promotion’s best pound-for-pound fighter.

Topuria went into the fight at #3 in the pound-for-pound rankings behind only Merab Dvalishvili (#2) and Islam Makhachev (#1).

The 28-year-old Spaniard hooked up his betting supporters as an enormous -400 favorite. Several prop bets on Topuria were winners, including him to win by KO/TKO (-157 at BetRivers, -165 at FanDuel), to win inside the distance (-275) and to win in Round 1 (+220 at Caesars). Wagers on ‘under’ 1.5 rounds also hit for a +120 return.

“I think tonight was his big night,” UFC CEO and president Dana White said of Topuria. “We have a star on our hands.”

Both fighters came out swinging in the opening minute. Oliveira was able to connect with a nice elbow, but several of Topuria’s strikes found a home on ‘Do Bronx’s face. One of the punches from Topuria opened a cut about Oliveira’s right eye.

Oliveira went for a takedown, followed by a trip, but Topuria landed on top. Both men worked for better positions with Oliveira inside of Topuria’s guard.

As Topuria tried to stand up, Oliveira attacked a leg, only to pay for it with a big right hand. Then Topuria escaped to his feet, and referee Marc Goddard stood Oliveira up after a few seconds of inactivity.

Back on the feet, Topuria started working behind his jab right away. As Oliveira came in trying to throw a right hand, Topuria perfectly landed a vicious right counter that served as a one-hitter quitter that floored the former champion.

Topuria immediately followed up with two hammer fists before Goddard intervened and shoved him away. It happened so quick that I wouldn’t call the hammer fists dirty at all, but Oliveira was already out from the counter right. In other words, they weren’t necessary, and you could tell that Topuria held up a bit at the last second on the second hammer fist.

“I represent the next generation of mixed martial arts,” Topuria told Joe Rogan during his Octagon interview. “This is the next level of the game. This is what I represent.”

As Rogan posed the ‘what’s next’ question, Topuria made reference to a “blonde bitch.” That was Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett’s invitation into the cage.

As Pimblett gave Topuria credit for the KO win, he added that, “you will never knock me out.” Topuria said, “I’m going to submit you.”

Topuria then got creative with his language, and you can check it out here. He then shoved Topuria before UFC security put an end to the exchange.

White wasn’t happy about it afterwards. He was upset that UFC security even let Pimblett in the Octagon, explaining that it would’ve never happened if he hadn’t already left the Octagon area for his room in the back.

Whatever the case, Topuria remained consistent during all of his post-fight media interviews that he wants the eighth-ranked Pimblett, who is off a third-round KO win (elbows and punches) over Michal Chandler that improved his UFC record to 7-0 with five finishes.

White stuck to his similar refrain at his post-fight presser, telling the media that “we’ll see how this thing plays out.” Arman Tsarukyan, who served as the backup for Topuria-Oliveira, is the #1 contender, but he also pulled out of a title bout against Makhachev the day before the fight.

That sort of thing doesn’t sit well with White, so you would think that third-ranked Justin Gaethje is in the mix as well. However, Topuria didn’t seem too keen on the idea.

“Fighting Justin Gaethje, I don’t think that’s interesting for the fans. We need knew blood.”

In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja continued his dominant run as flyweight champion by submitting Kai Kara-France with a rear-naked choke at the 1:55 mark of Round 3. The 35-year-old Pantoja is now on an eight-fight winning streak with four successful title defenses.

The Brazilian won as a -250 favorite and hooked up his backers on the prop bet for him to win by submission for a +235 payout at BetRivers. Bets on Pantoja to win inside the distance (+130) and in Round 3 (+850) were also winners, in addition to wagers on ‘under’ 3.5 rounds (+120).

In another flyweight contest, Joshua Van edged Brandon Royval via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) as a -120 favorite. This was a slugfest that set the record for most significant strikes landed (419) in a three-round UFC fight. Both men won an extra $50,000 for Fight of the Night honors, and many are calling it a legitimate candidate for Fight of the Year honors.

In fact, White enjoyed it so much that he said that he’s going to give Royval his win bonus despite coming up short on the judges’ scorecards. Van and Royval took the fight on 2.5 weeks of notice after Manuel Kape pulled out of his bout vs. Royval due to a broken foot.

Beneil Dariush picked up his first win in nearly three years by capturing a UD win (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Renato Moicano in a pick ’em affair (-110 either way). Moicano dropped Dariush late in Round 1 to secure the stanza, but Dariush rallied to win the next two rounds and end his two-fight slide.

In the pay-per-view opener, Payton Talbott won a UD (29-28, 29-28 29-28) over Felipe Lima in a featherweight scrap. Talbott improved to 4-1 in the UFC and cashed tickets as a +133 underdog.

In a middleweight bout, Gregory Rodrigues defeated Jack Hermansson by first-round KO in the Prelims headliner on ESPN. Rodrigues is now 6-2 in his last eight appearances.

Gamblers taking Rodrigues to win by KO garnered a +215 payout. The 33-year-old Brazilian won as a -215 ‘chalk.’ The 37-year-old Hermansson fell to 4-5 in his last nine fights.

Terrance McKinney (17-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) needed only 55 seconds to submit Viacheslav Borshchev with a guillotine choke as a -175 favorite. ‘T Wrecks’ collected his 16th career win via first-round finish, as the prop for him to win in Round 1 had a +135 return at FanDuel.

Rodrigues joined Topuria in winning an extra 50K by getting the other POTN bonus.

The promotion will take Fourth of July weekend off before the Octagon returns to ‘Music City’ for UFC Nashville on July 12. Derrick Lewis and Tallison Teixeira will headline the show in a heavyweight banger.