The summer in hot Nevada is about to get even hotter with the UFC 317 on the horizon. T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is going to host one of the biggest MMA events in recent memory, as we’re going to witness bouts such as Topuria vs. Oliveira, and Pantoja vs. Kara-France. Both fans of MMA and casual sports betting are going to relish the event scheduled for June 28th, as the fund stretches far longer than the main and co main event.
With two title bouts scheduled for UFC 317 we’re left with no choice than to try and make the best possible predictions for those two fights, and few more we deemed more important than others. With less than two weeks till the event, we’re going to walk you through the fight card and make some predictions for the upcoming bouts. In addition to what we have to say you can also check out these expert UFC picks and predictions, to try and make your betting slips as close as possible to winning.
Ilia Topuria vs. Charles Oliveira
Topuria is a symbol for ambition in today’s UFC. The goal for the Spanish/Georgian fighter is clear, capturing the lightweight title. Only a few months ago, people put him in the same conversation with Islam Makhachev, yet that fight for the belt was impossible at this moment. Islam changed divisions just like Ilia, and the lightweight belt was vacated. It opened the door for Topuria and Oliveira to enter the stakes for the title. Despite changing divisions, Topuria remains favourite to win this one as he is currently undefeated in his MMA career with an 16-0 record. It was evident that his featherweight career came to an end, after putting to sleep Volk and Holloway via knockouts, proving that there’s no one able to stop him in that weight class. Ilia is one of the hardest hitters in the world of UFC and his boxing and strong grappling are some of the best ever in the company. Latest UFC betting markets see him as a clear favourite to win this one.
While Topuria is the rising star in the UFC by now we have learned that seasoned veterans such as Charles Oliveira should never be underestimated. Charles has 45 professional bouts, and his current MMA record is 35-10. A serial winner has carved himself an impressive UFC career where he holds an 23-10-1 record. Unlike Topuria, who is a knockout machine, Charles is a submission expert as 70% of his wins have come through means of submission. Only 5 of all of his UFC visits to the octagon have ended in a decision. What makes Charles Oliveira so confident entering this bout considering that he has Topuria on the other side is the fact that he hasn’t suffered a knockout in almost a decade of UFC fighting. Yet, his style revolves around a berserker style in which he often finds himself on the bad end of opponents’ hits. A strong chin could not be enough for the Brazilian fighter, as we’re sure he never faced a fighter of Ilia Topuria’s hand strength. We believe that Topuria is going to be too good of a match for Charles Oliveira, and a knockout in the second round is what we predict for this bout.
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France
While a flyweight fighter, Pantoja is the biggest champion in our eyes. He’s been a champ since 2023 and his win against Brandon Moreno. Since then, he was in the octagon three times defending his title. A fearless fighter, Pantoja is on an impressive 7-win hot streak, and we’re not seeing it ending anytime soon. Flyweight belongs to the Brazilian fighter, and it is hard not seeing Pantoja submitting yet another of his opponents. Pantoja holds an impressive 29-5 record, which extends to 13-3 in the UFC. It’s been a while since Pantoja tasted defeat, and what’s even more impressive is that during his professional career he was never once finished. Kara-France will pose a challenge and is a deserved title challenger, but it is hard seeing this bout go past Pantoja.
Kai Kara-France will enter this bout being wary of Pantoja’s submission skills which he will attempt to bypass with his kickboxing. A close friend and a disciple of Israel Adesanya, Kai has a nice MMA background which saw him winning 8 and losing 4 duels in his UFC career. During his professional MMA career, Kara-France holds an 25-11 record, which saw him take on some of the biggest names in the flyweight division in Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royal. He lost to both of these fighters, but after an impressive win against Steve Erceg he got his title shot. A first round KO is always well received and it showed that Kai Kara-France has that much needed champion pedigree. Yet, despite the ascension through the flyweight division in recent months, we just do not see Kai Kara-France taking this one home. It is a submission win by Pantoja as clear as they get a second round submission pick from us.
Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov
Paulo Costa had a stellar start to his MMA career. He was undefeated in the UFC after 5 wins to start his career until his MMA/UFC undefeated streak came to an end in 2019. He was seen as an KO/TKO master until he faced Israel Adesanya who derailed his career. Since losing the title bout to the Stylebender, Costa went on a mixed streak that saw him winning only one out of his last 4 fights. He found himself on the losing end of fights against Marvin Vettori, Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland. His only win in the last six years came against Luke Rockhold who is now retired. After an impressive start to his UFC career Costa is now a 6-4 fighter looking to get his career back on track. When we take into account injuries that have also derailed Paulo Costa and made him unable to fight in recent times, he remains one of the what if’s of UFC.
Roman Kopylov will be looking to exploit all of the weaknesses that Costa has shown to have in recent years, and after his recent performances it is evident that Roman is more than capable of doing it. Yes, the Russian fighter lost to Anthony Hernandez, but that was an unexpected outcome. Besides that defeat Kopylov has six wins in his last 7 visits to the octagon. It is evident that Roman has worked on his striking as 5 of his last 6 wins came via KO/TKO. All of you who have seen him vs. Chris Curtis probably were impressed by his head kick win as much as we did. When we look at the recent form of both fighters, Roman is a clear favourite to win this one. It will be an interesting duel as one fighter is a KO/TKO expert, while the other was only finished once during his career. As you can see if you take a look at the UFC 316 recap, bouts as these are decided on stamina and who has a better cardio. Yet, we see Costa losing his grip as the bout close to an end. A KO/TKO win by Roman is on our card.
Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
Dariush vs. Moicano has been on the cards for some time now, and we’re finally getting a chance to see what these two fellows have to offer. Both are top 10 ranked fighters, and the lightweight division was never more interesting thanks to the likes of these two. The winner of this duel will enter the title conversation, so it is understandable that the stakes are high with this bout despite not being one of the top duels at UFC 317. Moicano was already in the title talks, yet his attempt failed in January when he was taken down by Islam Makhachev. Currently, Renato holds a 12-6 UFC record and a win here is a requirement for him in order to get another title shot. He was not scheduled to be one the previous time, as he only stepped up to face Islam after Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from UFC 311. Moicano was submitted in the first round, and that was the end to his four fight winning streak.
At the same time Moicano got his title shot, Beneil Dariush was left out of contention as their bout was cancelled. The cancellation didn’t bode well with Dariush who hasn’t fought since, and patiently waited for Moicano. He will also be looking to put an end to his two defeat skid, as he lost to Charles Oliveira and Tsarukyan. This is tough to predict, but with more time to rest and prepare, we can see Beneil Dariush taking a win home by decision, as this is a duel that will go all the way if you ask us.
Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van
Royval vs. Van is not what we were promised, but it is more than enough to satisfy our MMA cravings. Coming off a short notice, Joshua Van will be looking to take advantage of the opportunity that has arisen for him at UFC 317. It’s only been a week since Van fought at the UFC 316 where he took down Bruno Silva. Van is a 7-1 UFC fighter with an 14-2 MMA record. This chance for him to make history came only moments after Manel Kape stated that he is withdrawing from UFC 317 due to an undisclosed injury. Van is entering this duel full of confidence as he has won 12 out of his last13 fights, and is currently on a four consecutive win streak.
While hot at the moment, Van will not have it easy vs. Brandon Royval. A former challenger for the title is on a winning streak of his own winning his last two bouts. Royval’s only defeat in recent times came in the hands of the champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296. Brandon currently holds an 17-7 MMA record with a 7-3 UFC score. He has rediscovered himself over and over again and with statement wins vs. Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira showed everyone that there is still fuel left in the tank for another title challenge.
Royval is entering this duel as a slight favourite over Van as his odds are set at -125 compared to Van’s +105. When the bout was announced, it was Van who was favoured, but considering he is coming in on a short notice, and without proper camp, having fought at the previous UFC event, we can’t see this one going past Royval. So, if you plan to bet on UFC 317, Brandon Royval via submission in the second round is one of the good bets you can make.
As you can see, UFC 317 is shaping up to be one of the better events in recent UFC memory. The company has saved some of the top title fights for this Las Vegas, Nevada event, and when it’s all said and done we will have at least one new champion. As far as challengers go, UFC 317 will give birth to new ones without a doubt with Brandon Royval and Roman Kopylov being the most likely candidates.
In addition to bouts we singled out at UFC 317 you will also have a chance to bet on fights such as Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues, Hyder Amil vs. Jose Delgado, Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez, Terrance McKinney vs. Viacheslav Borshchev, Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima, Jhonata Diniz vs. Alvin Hines, and Niko Price vs. Jacobe Smith among few others. For true fans of MMA and sports betting UFC already promises to break a few records, and we can say that we’re more than looking for it. Tune in as Topuria and Pantoja write history and be a part of it.
