mixed

Topuria delivers on his promise to win via first-round knockout after moving up in weight to fight Oliveira.

Spain’s Ilia Topuria scored a stunning first-round knockout victory over Charles Oliveira to claim the UFC lightweight title at UFC 317, with Alexandre Pantoja securing a third-round submission win over Kai Kara-France to retain the flyweight title in the co-main event.

Former featherweight champ Topuria announced in February that he was going to step up to the 155-pound (70kg) division to fight for the belt vacated by former champ Islam Makhachev’s move up to the welterweight division.

Standing between him and the title on Saturday evening was 35-year-old Brazilian former lightweight champ Oliveira, who briefly brought his vast experience to bear before being defeated.

After a dominant run at featherweight, which saw him move to 16-0 as a professional, Topuria, who was born in Germany to Georgian parents, looked small in the cage compared with Oliveira, but he defended well against the Brazilian’s grappling before showcasing his striking power.

Oliveira, who was stripped of the lightweight belt in May 2022 when he missed weight for a defence against Justin Gaethje, looked good during a brief exchange on the mat, but Topuria disengaged to bring the fight back to the feet, and shortly afterwards, Oliveira’s evening ended.

The 28-year-old stunned Oliveira with a crunching right hand and followed it up with a left hook that sent Oliveira crashing to the mat. His eyes glazed as his back hit the canvas and Topuria fulfilled his pre-fight prediction of a first-round knockout win.

“I already said it – I represent the new generation of the mixed martial arts – this is the next level of the game. This is the next thing, and this is what I represent,” Topuria said in a post-fight interview.

“I did exactly what we had planned: lot of jabs, right hand, left hook, and boom – his lights were out.”

In the co-main event, Brazil’s Pantoja dominated New Zealander Kara-France before taking his back and locking in a rear naked choke 1 minute and 55 seconds into the third round to defend his flyweight crown.

Elsewhere on the main card, Joshua Van beat Brandon Royval via unanimous decision at flyweight, while Beneil Dariush beat Renato Moicano via unanimous decision in their lightweight bout, and Payton Talbott defeated Felipe Lima via unanimous decision at bantamweight.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Jon Jones has retired, and interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been elevated to the undisputed title holder, Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president and CEO, confirmed.

“Jon Jones called us last night and retired,” White said during a news conference on Saturday in Azerbaijan, where UFC Fight Night was held.

“Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC.”

Jones, who turns 38 on July 19, has compiled a win-loss record of 28-1 with 11 total knockouts (TKOs), capturing UFC titles at light heavyweight and heavyweight. He was in line for a highly anticipated unification bout with Aspinall, 32, who became the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion in November 2023 when an injured Jones could not fight.

Englishman Aspinall (15-3 win-loss in MMA, 11 TKOs, 8-1 win-loss in UFC) posted a message on Instagram after White’s announcement.

“For you fans. It’s time to get this heavyweight division going,” wrote Aspinall, 32. “An active undisputed champion.”

New era at heavyweight 😤

The undisputed heavyweight champ (@AspinallMMA) is ready to get things going! pic.twitter.com/2yZpJ7Ghtg

— UFC (@ufc) June 21, 2025

Jones last fought on November 16, 2024, winning by a third-round TKO over Stipe Miocic. Jones has won six consecutive bouts since a no contest with Daniel Cormier on July 29, 2017.

White’s announcement countered words of Jones on Thursday when he appeared on the “Full Send” podcast.

“I don’t want to say that I’m retired because fighting’s in my blood,” Jones said on the podcast, per multiple media reports. “Right now, I could really care less about fighting. I’ve been doing it my whole life at a very high level and when the itch comes back – and if it comes back too, then I’ll do it with my whole heart, do it to the best of my abilities.”

Jones has had a chequered history out of the octagon, where he became the youngest UFC title holder at age 23 with a win over Mauricio Rua for the 205-pound crown. Jones, who is 16-0 in UFC title bouts, has dealt with legal issues was well as a yearlong suspension in 2016 for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs – a result he disputes.

Rountree Jr downs Hill in Baku

Meanwhile, former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr earned a dominant unanimous decision against Jamahal Hill in the main event of the Fight Night, taking the cards 49-46, 50-45, 50-45.

Utilising leg kicks and knocking the former light heavyweight champion down on several occasions, Rountree Jr (15-6 win-loss in MMA) is open to multiple options for his next fight, as long as he remains in the light heavyweight title picture.

“I didn’t come in here underestimating Jamahal,” Rountree said.

Hill (12-4 win-loss in MMA) has lost three in a row and is searching for his first win since January 2023.

The co-main event went the way of hometown lightweight Rafael Fiziev (13-4 win-loss in MMA), winning a unanimous decision against Ignacio Bahamondes 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 for his first victory since July 2022. Fiziev’s striking ability made the difference, as it was the first loss for Bahamondes (17-6 win-loss in MMA) since August 2023. Fiziev does not prefer whom he fights next, as he entered the bout ranked 11th in the division.

Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes outlasted debutant Rizvan Kuniev, earning a split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Blaydes (19-5 win-loss in MMA) bounced back after falling victim to UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall last July at UFC 304.

In one of the most high-octane UFC fights in recent memory, lightweight Nazim Sadykhov overcame a Herculean effort from Nikolas Motta to secure a late second-round TKO at 4:17. Sadykhov was nearly finished by a plethora of Motta strikes in the first round before Sadykhov turned the fight around in the second. Sadykhov (11-1-1 win-loss MMA) has won 11 of his last 13 fights, landing a 75-punch combination to seal the deal. Motta (15-6 win-loss MMA) suffered his first loss since June 2023.

Published on
18/06/2025 – 8:06 GMT+2

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Asian shares were mixed and oil prices remained high on Wednesday as investors closely tracked the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

US benchmark crude oil was down around 0.43% at $74.52 per barrel in the afternoon in Asia — or the morning in Europe. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped around 0.43% at $76.12, although both WTI and Brent remain historically high on the month.

Crude prices rose more than 4% on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump left a Group of Seven summit in Canada early and warned that people in Iran’s capital should evacuate immediately.

Within about eight hours, Trump went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives. Iran and Israel continued to exchange air strikes on Wednesday.

The fighting has driven prices for crude oil and gasoline higher because Iran is a major oil exporter and it sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s crude passes. Past conflicts in the area have caused spikes in oil prices, though they’ve historically proven brief after showing that they did not disrupt the flow of oil.

Japan, meanwhile, reported that its exports fell in May as the auto industry was hit by Trump’s higher tariffs, with exports to the US falling more than 11%. But Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 0.78% to 38,837.48.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.17% to 23,698.65 while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% to 3,388.77.

The Kospi in Seoul gained 0.54% to 2,966.20 while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.1% to 8,533.10.

On Tuesday, US stocks slumped under the weight of higher oil prices and weaker than expected retail sales in May.

Trump raised the temperature on Israel’s fight with Iran by calling for “Unconditional surrender!” on his social media platform and saying, “We are not going to” kill Iran’s leader, “at least for now”.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 5,982.72 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7% to 42,215.80. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9% to 19,521.09.

On early Wednesday morning in the US, S&P futures rose 0.11% to 5,991.50, Dow Jones futures increased less than 1% to 42,245.00, while Nasdaq futures advanced by 0.13% to 21,759.00.

The markets will be looking to the Federal Reserve as it makes a decision on its interest rates today. The nearly unanimous expectation among traders and economists is that the Fed will make no move.

In currency trading early Wednesday, the US dollar fell 0.2% to 144.94 Japanese yen. The euro edged 0.18% higher, to $1.1502.

The entry list was announced by the USTA on Tuesday.

Lew Sherr, the USTA’s chief executive, said the tournament was always “confident” of getting the world’s leading players involved.

“Seeing the teams that have already put their names on the entry list makes us all incredibly excited,” he said.

“It shows that the players are behind what we are trying to do, and we know that the fans will love it.”

The plan received strong criticism from some doubles players when it was announced in February.

Italian pair Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who won last year’s US Open mixed doubles title, are on the entry list, having initially described the decision as a “profound injustice”.

France’s Kristina Mladenovic, winner of multiple Slam doubles titles, said the decision was “terribly shocking”.

Merab Dvalishvili has effortlessly defeated Sean O’Malley in the main event of the Mixed Martial Art’s (MMA) Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 night in New Jersey, United States (US), securing a third-round modified choke win in their rematch to retain the bantamweight championship.

With United States President Donald Trump watching from cageside on Saturday, Dvalishvili (win-loss record of 20-4 MMA) emphatically displayed his wrestling base to tire out the former champion and make an argument as one of the sport’s best bantamweights, perhaps of all time.

Dvalishvili, who won at 4:42 of the third round for his 13th consecutive victory, said he would welcome his next title defence against Cory Sandhagen (win-loss record of 18-5 in MMA), a winner of four of his last five fights.

“You’re the man, let’s go,” Dvalishvili said, indicating that he would be interested in fighting Sandhagen next.

O’Malley confirmed the loss is a minor setback, reassuring of a steady return. “100 percent, thank you guys for coming out,” he said.

The women’s bantamweight title changed hands in the co-main event, as Kayla Harrison submitted Julianna Pena with a second-round kimura.

Harrison and Pena embraced in the Octagon afterwards, showing utmost class for one another after Harrison controlled every aspect of the fight. Harrison said during her post-fight interview that her weight cut was so draining on Thursday night that she “wanted to quit”, but it would have been a mistake in her eyes, given that most fighters in MMA do not win a UFC title.

Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt fell short against Raoni Barcelos in a lacklustre affair by unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.

In middleweight action, Mansur Abdul-Malik earned a technical decision over Cody Brundage 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. Abdul-Malik nearly had a third-round total knockout 36 seconds in, but an accidental clash of heads changed the direction of the fight, thus needing the judges to intervene.

Later, at UFC Fight Night in Atlanta, Kamaru Usman returned to winning ways as he defeated Joaquin Buckley 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in a unanimous decision in the main event.

“Those knockouts will come,” Usman said after his win. “I just needed to get that monkey off my back.”

The first two rounds of the headline welterweight attraction saw Usman (win-loss record of 21-4 in MMA) pitch the equivalent of a shutout, effortlessly taking Buckley (win-loss record of 21-7 in MMA) down and utilising his ground-and-pound to outstrike the St Louis, US, native 16-0 in the significant strikes category.

Round 3 started strong for Buckley as he found his striking range before Usman achieved his third takedown in four attempts. Round 4 was primarily on the feet, as Buckley landed his best combinations of the fight but could not secure a comeback finish. Usman took Buckley down again, securing the back mount position as the round ended.

Round 5 saw both men trade blows, but it was too little, too late for Buckley, who had a six-fight unbeaten streak snapped. It was Usman’s first win since he held the title in November 2021.

Buckley was gracious in defeat, suffering his first loss at welterweight.

“We’re just getting started, baby,” Buckley said. “We’ll be back.”

The co-main event also needed the cards, as former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas earned a highly competitive unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 over Miranda Maverick.

In middleweight, Edmen Shahbazyan nearly finished Andre Petroski with a would-be third-round total knockout before walking away with a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. The win marked Shahbazyan’s first stretch of back-to-back wins since 2019, his first decision win since 2018.

The UFC’s schedule goes international with a Fight Night instalment a week from Saturday in Azerbaijan, headlined by a light heavyweight non-championship five-rounder between former champion Jamahal Hill (12-3 MMA) and ex-title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr (14-6 MMA).

With US President Donald Trump in attendance, Dvalishvili dominates challenger O’Malley in a third-round victory in New Jersey.

Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley effortlessly in the main event of UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, securing a third-round modified choke in their rematch to retain the bantamweight championship.

With United States President Donald Trump watching from cageside on Saturday night, Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA) emphatically displayed his wrestling base to tire out the former champion and make an argument as one of the sport’s best bantamweights, perhaps of all time.

Dvalishvili, who won at 4:42 of the third round for his 13th consecutive victory, said he would welcome his next title defence against Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA), a winner of four of his last five fights.

“You’re the man, let’s go,” Dvalishvili said, indicating that he would be interested in fighting Sandhagen next.

O’Malley (18-3 MMA) fell to Dvalishvili last September by unanimous decision, relinquishing his title. O’Malley confirmed the loss is a minor setback, reassuring of a steady return.

“100 percent, thank you guys for coming out,” O’Malley said.

The women’s bantamweight title changed hands in the co-main event, as Kayla Harrison submitted Julianna Pena with a second-round kimura, a submission technique also known as the double wristlock or reverse keylock.

Harrison and Pena embraced in the Octagon afterwards, showing utmost class for one another after the 34-year-old controlled every aspect of the fight.

Harrison said during her post-fight interview that her weight cut was so draining on Thursday night that she “wanted to quit”, but it would have been a mistake in her eyes, given that most fighters in MMA do not win a UFC title.

Harrison (19-1 MMA) called out Pena’s (13-6 MMA) former rival, Amanda Nunes. Nunes (23-5 MMA) is a former two-division champion who retired in 2023. As time passed, she teased a comeback. It now seems inevitable, as Harrison and Nunes posed for a face-off and talked of a bout later this year, as the Prudential Center crowd beamed.

Kevin Holland kicked off the UFC 316 main card in style, securing a D’Arce choke over Vicente Luque at 1:03 of the second round.

Holland (28-13 MMA) has now won three of his last five, emphasising the need to remain a prominent welterweight contender. Luque (23-11-1 MMA), who resides in New Jersey via Brazil, has lost two of his last three.

Middleweight Joe Pyfer made good on his UFC return, defeating TUF alumnus Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-27, 30-27.

Pyfer (14-3 MMA) has won his last two outings, whereas Gastelum (19-10 MMA) is in the midst of a slump.

Ilia Topuria will face Charles Oliveira, not Islam Makhachev, for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 main event.

Ilia Topuria will look to add a second Ultimate Fighting Championship belt to his collection when he headlines UFC 317 on June 28 – it just won’t be against Islam Makhachev.

After weeks of heightened anticipation for a potential blockbuster face-off between the superstar pair, Topuria, a former undisputed featherweight champ, will now fight former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday.

Makhachev, a four-time defending champion, will vacate the lightweight belt to move up to welterweight to face newly crowned Jack Della Maddalena, who defeated Belal Muhammad last Saturday at UFC 315 to become the new title holder in the weight class. The date for that fight has yet to be announced.

Topuria has a perfect UFC record of 16-0. The Spaniard relinquished his 145-pound (66kg) featherweight title earlier this year in anticipation of a lightweight title showdown against Makhachev and took to social media to voice his displeasure at the Russian vacating his title belt.

“On June 29, another dream will come true,” Topuria wrote. “I’ll be the champion of the lightweight division. Charles [Oliveira], my apologies in advance… I’m just fighting for my dreams. It’s unfortunate that Makhachev ran away.”

Makhachev, who sports a 27-1 UFC record, is ranked by ESPN as the best pound-for-pound UFC fighter in the world; Topuria is ranked number two.

UFC 317 is scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Jack Della Maddalena took away Belal Muhammad’s potent wrestling ability, allowing only one takedown en route to becoming the new welterweight champion in the main event of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 315 in Montreal, Canada.

He won the five-rounder by scores of 48-47, 48-47, 49-45 on Saturday night.

Della Maddalena used volume striking to frustrate the now-former welterweight champion, nearly finishing the fight on several occasions. Della Maddalena (18-2, Mixed Martial Arts) has now won 18 in a row. Muhammad (24-4, 1 No Contest) was making his first title defence and had won 11 consecutive fights.

Della Maddalena credited Muhammad’s toughness but said post-fight that he knew he was not going to let it slip away.

“It felt [expletive] good,” the Australian said with a smile.

He said he was intrigued by UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s possible move to welterweight, and was open to exacting revenge on the Russian. His fellow Australian, Alexander Volkanovski, lost both bouts to Makhachev.

It is the first loss for Muhammad, a Chicago native, since January 2019.

Valentina Shevchenko successfully defended her UFC women’s flyweight title in the co-main event over Manon Fiorot, winning by a unanimous 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 decision to hand Fiorot (12-2, MMA) her first UFC loss.

Despite a closely contested fight, Shevchenko (25-4, 1 NC MMA) pushed the pace in the fourth and fifth rounds to tire out Fiorot and give the Frenchwoman little room to work after signs of early success through three gruelling rounds.

“I expected a hard fight,” Shevchenko, a 125-pounder from Kyrgyzstan, said in the Octagon following the win.

The victory marked Shevchenko’s 14th in the UFC, including 10 title fights.

Initially scheduled as a bantamweight fight, Canadian featherweight Aiemann Zahabi earned a win by unanimous decision against former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, taking the three scorecards by matching 29-28 scores.

Aldo nearly finished Zahabi in the third round with a head kick, followed by a flurry of strikes. However, Zahabi was able to survive Aldo’s attacks, gain the top position, and open a cut on Aldo.

The win for Zahabi (13-2, MMA) marked Brazilian Aldo’s (32-10) final MMA fight, announcing his retirement in the Octagon.

“I just don’t have it in my heart any more,” said Aldo, 38. “I think this is the last time you’re going to see me.”

Women’s flyweight Natalia Silva of Brazil knocked off former champion Alexa Grasso from her top-contender status with a unanimous decision win, all by 30-27 scores.

Silva (19-5-1, MMA) has won her first six UFC fights, while Mexico’s Grasso (16-5-1, MMA) has to return to the drawing board to remain in contention. Silva opened a noticeable cut above Grasso’s eyelid, swinging the momentum in the second round before a one-sided Round 3 followed suit with dominant kickboxing ability.

Lightweight Benoit Saint-Denis of France had no trouble beating Canadian Kyle Prepolec, a late replacement, with an arm triangle choke at 2:35 of the second round.

It was Saint-Denis’s (14-3) first win since November 2023, snapping a two-fight losing skid. Prepolec (18-9) stepped in for Joel Alvarez (22-3) and made his first Octagon appearance since 2019.

Scotland will face Italy in the final of the World Mixed Doubles Championship on Saturday (18:00 BST).

2022 Olympic champion Jen Dodds and 2022 silver medallist Bruce Mouat overcame Australia 9-6 in the semi-finals after finishing second at the round robin stage and defeating the United States 7-5 in their qualification game in New Brunswick, Canada.

Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Anton Mosaner were top of the standings and progressed straight to the last four, where they beat Estonia 7-5.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence at the minute and we’re just enjoying being out there,” said 2025 World Men’s Championship-winning skip Mouat.

“I’m really pleased with how we performed today when we had two really tough games and we’re now looking forward to the last one.”

Dodds and Mouat won the 2021 tournament on home ice and compatriots Eve Muirhead and Bobby Lammie took the title the following year in Geneva, Switzerland. Italy are contesting their first final.

“Jen and I have had a really good mixed doubles season and we’ve worked very hard to just try to get back to this point, so I’m proud of having such a good effort to get to this point,” added Mouat.

“The Italians look like they’re playing incredibly well, so we’re going to have to come out and play like we have for the last three days and put them under some pressure to hopefully get some misses and take advantage.”