HYDEN BLOG: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from PFL 7 and UFC 317

GOOD- Sullivan Cauley (8-1) beat Phil Davis (25-8, 1 No Contest) by Decision
Both fighters battered each other for three close rounds. The judges
favored Cauley, it seemed.

PFL 10- August 21, 2025
Dalton Rosa (11-1) will fight Fabian Edwards (15-4) in the PFL 2025
Middleweight World Tournament Finals
Antonio Carlos Jr. (18-6, 2 No Contests) will fight Sullivan Cauley
(8-1) in the PFL 2025 Light Heavyweight World Tournament Finals
Oleg Popov (21-2) will fight Alexander Romanov (19-3, 1 No Contest) in
the PFL 2025 Heavyweight World Tournament Finals

*************

UFC 317
GOOD- Payton Talbott vs. Felipe Lima
They start off swinging at each other right away. This continues until
Lima gets a takedown. Talbott is immediately back up but Lima
eventually brings him back down. They grapple for the rest of the
round, with Talbott getting back to his feet just before the first
round ends. The second round begins with some striking exchanges
before Lima starts trying for a takedown. They eventually go to the
mat for a while Talbott stays busy with strikes until the second round
ends. The third round starts with some quick striking exchanges before
Lima goes for some takedowns. He completes one but Talbott rolls and
reverses and ends up on top and works some ground-and-pound until the
fight ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Talbott wins the decision to improve to 10-1 while Lima drops to 14-2
and has his 14 fight winning streak snapped. Good win for Talbott.

GOOD- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
Dariush is throwing a lot of kicks early, including some powerful low
kicks. This continues throughout the first round, with Moicano utilizing a more varied approach with his striking. The second round
begins with a Dariush punch before they nearly go to the mat a few
times but end up stalemating. Darisuh gets a takedown and works some
ground-and-pound before the second round ends. The third round starts
with Darisuh throwing strikes from all angles before smashing Moicano
with two stiff kicks to the body. Dariush gets a takedown but lets
Moicano back up. Dariush continues firing strikes until the fight
ends. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Dariush wins the decision to improve to 23-6-1 while Moicano drops to
20-7-1. Good win for Dariush.

GREAT- Brandon Royval vs. Joshua Van
The action is immediate, as both men come out swinging. They’re
hitting each other from all angles and Van drops Royval, though it was
kind of a stumble. The frenetic action continues until the end of the
first round. The second round begins with jabs and knees from Royval,
with Van answering with some powerful right hands. Royval continues
with his piston-like jabs while Van answers with power punches and knees. Royval attacks the body before the second round ends. The third
round starts with the fast-paced action resuming. Van’s punches look
more powerful but Royval’s jabs are very effective. The wild fight
concludes with Van dropping Royval during a crazy exchange where both
men went Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots. Wow, this was a damn good fight. We go to the judges to render their verdict.
Van wins the decision to improve to 15-2 and has won 5 straight fights
while Royval drops to 17-8. Good win for Van, who likely gets the next
UFC Flyweight Championship title fight now.

GOOD- Alexandre Pantoja submits Kai Kara-France
Pantoja was trying to defend his UFC Flyweight Championship for the
fourth time here. They start off with some striking exchanges before
Pantoja gets a takedown and takes Kara-France’s back. Pantoja begins
hunting submissions as Kara-France can only try to survive. He does
and the first round ends. The second round begins with more fast-paced
striking before Pantoja again gets a takedown. However, this time
Kara-France explodes back to his feet and they trade strikes for the
rest of the second round. The third round starts with some quick
striking exchanges before Pantoja takes Kara-France’s back and takes
him down. Pantoja locks in a rear-naked choke and gets the submission
nearly two minutes into the third round.
Pantoja improves to 30-5 and has won 8 straight fights while Kara-France drops to 25-12 with 1 No Contest. Good win for Pantoja,
who squares off with Van after the fight.

GOOD- Ilia Topuria stops Charles Oliveira
This fight was to crown the new UFC Lightweight Champion. They start
off swinging before Oliveira gets Topuria to the mat for a second.
They’re fighting on the cage when Topuria crushes Oliveira with a bomb
of a right hook then a huge left that knocks Oliveira completely unconscious. Topuria follows up with a few unnecessary hammerfists
before the referee can stop the fight halfway through the first round.
Topuria is the first undefeated two-division champion in UFC history.
Topuria improves to a perfect 17-0 while Oliveira drops to 35-11 with
1 No Contest. Good win for Topuria.

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Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at
hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank.
Thanks for reading and have a good day.