UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway was one of the best cards of the year on paper, and it did not disappoint in action. In Abu Dhabi, Ilia Topuria remained undefeated and defended his featherweight championship for the first time by knocking out Max Holloway in the third round.
Khamzat Chimaev submitted Robert Whittaker within one round in the co-main event and likely propelled himself to a title shot at middleweight.
Preliminary card
The prelims began with one of the worst decisions in recent memory. Stealing a victory from the hands of debuting Carlos Leal, Rinat Fakhretdinov won a unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. All three commentators and every single media member scored it for Leal, 11 members giving him all three rounds.
Though the judges were immediately put in the spotlight, this decision was the only one heavily disputed in the card.
Farid Basharat took on Victor Hugo in the card’s third fight. The matchup was originally scheduled as a bantamweight bout, but Hugo’s 10-pound weight miss saw it become a featherweight fight just two days before the event. With the rescheduling, however, Hugo escaped forfeiting what would have been a large part of his purse. Regardless, Basharat, who came in 8 pounds lighter than Hugo, won by unanimous decision.
The 10-pound weight miss is inexcusable. Basharat should be applauded for continuing with the fight, and Hugo should be punished heavily, if not cut, for such an offense.
Chris Barnett, in his first fight since 2022, appeared to suffer an injury during introductions before his fight with Kennedy Nzechukwu. The injury forced Barnett to succumb to Nzechukwu’s punches in the first round, a technical knockout in Nzechukwu’s first heavyweight fight.
In one of the best prelim fights I’ve ever watched, Mateusz Rebecki took on Myktybek Orolbai in a catchweight bout at 160 pounds. In the first round, Orolbai was caught just below his right eye, causing enough swelling that the doctor nearly stopped the fight between rounds. Then, in the second round, Orolbai found his game. He cut Rebecki with a headbutt, leaving both fighters covered in blood.
Most agreed it was 19-19 heading into the third, where Rebecki quickly dropped Orolbai and began landing on his defenseless opponent, but the fight was not stopped. Instead, Orolbai managed to get up and land a few good shots in an intense back-and-forth round, but it was not enough to convince the judges. Rebecki won by split decision: 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29.
The violent round was one of the best of the year, and the two were awarded the Fight of the Night bonus from the UFC.
The next two fights ended quickly, with Geoff Neal’s bout with Rafael dos Anjos ending in the first due to a knee injury after a knockdown by Neal. Ibo Aslan made quick work of Rafael Cerqueira in the latter’s debut, knocking out the Brazilian in just under a minute.
Main card
Shara Magomedov opened the main card with a spectacular knockout of Armen Petrosyan, where he landed two consecutive spinning back fists to floor his opponent. Magomedov has now won three fights in five months and expressed that he’d like to get back in the Octagon once more before the new year, which seems possible after his most recent victory.
Lerone Murphy was knocked down in the first round by Dan Ige, but Murphy recovered in the next two to earn the unanimous decision victory and likely a fight within the top 10 of the featherweight division.
The featured bout on the card saw light heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev and Alexsandar Rakić fight for the next shot at Alex Pereira’s belt. Each aware of the other’s power, the two fought carefully, with Rakic landing in volume but Ankalaev outdoing him in damage. The result was a unanimous decision victory for Ankalaev, but overall, it was an underwhelming performance after he claimed Pereira was scared to fight him.
I’d like to see Pereira take on Ankalaev at home in Brazil early next year. As for Rakic, he will likely now face someone contending for the title shot, perhaps the winner of Nikita Krylov’s bout with Azamat Murzakanov coming up in November.
The co-main event was originally scheduled for June, but Khamzat Chimaev’s illness forced him out. Robert Whittaker destroyed his replacement and the fight was rebooked.
A quick takedown from Chimaev led him to be able to control Whittaker for the remainder of the fight, which wasn’t long. With a minute left, Chimaev attempted a rear naked choke that wrapped around Whittaker’s jaw, which forced Whittaker to tap in a heartbeat. It was speculated that Whittaker had suffered a jaw injury earlier in the fight, causing the quick tap, but a photo of his mouth from after the fight showed that Chimaev’s grip had actually broken many of his teeth as soon as he went for the choke.
Dana White mentioned before the event that the co-main’s winner might fight for the title next, which seems probable after Chimaev’s domination.
The main event featured featherweight champ Ilia Topuria seeking his first title defense against perennial contender Max Holloway. Topuria was eight months removed from his knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski and followed up with another knockout of a featherweight great.
Through the first two rounds, Holloway landed more shots, but Topuria landed the better ones as he connected on a few solid overhands. Then, just a minute into round three, Topuria wobbled the challenger with his signature overhand and connected with a crisp left hook that put Holloway on the canvas.
The knockout was the first of Holloway’s career. Topuria again demonstrated his power and resilience in keeping up with Holloway’s output. He has now knocked out two of the greatest featherweights of all time, certainly making a case for fighter of the year, with arguably the best back-to-back wins in UFC history. Besides Diego Lopes, not many challengers remain in the division.
In his post-fight interview, Topuria acknowledged that Volkanovski would likely get a rematch, but a future move to lightweight is also in the cards. A fight with lightweight champ Islam Makhachev would be one of the most skillful matchups in UFC history, so let’s hope it plays out in 2025.