Monday Morning Hangover: What’s next for Charles Oliveira after first murderous round knockout loss at UFC 317?

Adam Guillen has been writing (and translating) for MMAmania.com since 2011, covering the latest UFC, Bellator, PFL and other mixed martial arts (MMA) news and latest happenings throughout the combat sports world.

UFC 317 blew the roof off T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past weekend (Sat., June 28, 2025), leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Kai Kara-France, who was choked out by reigning and always-defending Flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja (see it again here).

And Jack Hermansson who was knocked out for literally three long, scary minutes by Gregory Rodrigues in the first round (video highlights here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Charles Oliveira.

Coming into his Lightweight title fight against former Featherweight kingpin, Ilia Topuria, “Do Bronx” was super confident his experience in the shark-filled, 155-pound division would prevail over someone moving up to win a second title in a new weight class. After all, Oliveira is one of the most seasoned veterans in the sport, going through hell and back against some of the best in the sport and coming out on top more often than not.

That said, he quickly found out that Topuria is simply in a class of his own.

From the jump, “El Matador” let it be known that it was going to be an all-out striking battle that Oliveira had to endure if he wanted to pull off the upset. But, as the Brazilian quickly discovered (like several before him), Topuria’s striking is levels above everyone else at the moment.

Halfway through the opening frame, Topuria tagged “Do Bronx” with a vicious combination that was capped off by a deadly left hook that dropped him like a 155-pound bag of potatoes. Not skipping a beat, “El Matador” moved in for the kill — though it was not super necessary — delivering several more shots to seal the deal.

And just like that, Topuria became the new 155-pound champion, capping off an amazing run like no one has seen in quite some time — even Conor McGregor was impressed.

Perhaps Oliveira can find solace in the fact that he isn’t the first — and won’t be the last — who has fallen victim to Topuria’s excellent striking attack. That said, the defeat will set him back quite a bit, and a title shot will be hard to come by, especially if Topuria can hold on to it for awhile.

“It wasn’t how we wanted it, but I’m fine. I just want to thank everyone for the affection and the wonderful energy,” Oliveira wrote afterward. “God bless you all.”

With the loss, Oliveira drops to 2-3 in his last five outings with two of those being title fights defeats, the other coming to Islam Makhachev. As far as what could be next for “Do Bronx,” I wouldn’t mind seeing him face off against Max Holloway next.

“Blessed” will face Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 next month in what will serve as a farewell fight for “The Diamond.” And win, lose or draw, Holloway will still be sticking around, and his next challenge should be against Oliveira, a fun rematch after their initial encounter at UFC Saskatoon ended prematurely back in 2015 (scary details here).

Legends re-unite?

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