Main Card
- Ilia Topuria def. Max Holloway via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 1:34) (UFC Featherweight Championship)
- Khamzat Chimaev def. Robert Whittaker via Submission, Face Crank (RD 1, 3:34)
- Magomed Ankalaev def. Aleksandar Rakic via Decision, Unanimous
- Lerone Murphy def. Dan Ige via Decision, Unanimous
- Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:52)
Preliminary Card
- Ibo Aslan def. Raffael Cerqueira via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:50)
- Geoff Neal def. Rafael dos Anjos via TKO, Injury (RD 1, 1:40)
- Mateus Rebecki def. Myktybek Orolbai via Decision, Split
- Abus Magomedov def. Brunno Ferreira via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 3, 3:14)
- Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Chris Barnett via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:27)
- Farid Basharat def. Victor Hugo via Decision, Unanimous
- Ismail Naurdiev def. Bruno Silva via Decision, Unanimous
- Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal via Decision, Unanimous
Ilia Topuria is not just the best featherweight in the world but is also now the only man in MMA who can say they stopped legendary former champ Max Holloway with strikes.
Topuria left the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Saturday night with the UFC Featherweight Championship still around his waist, retaining the title after a third-round finish win against Holloway. The title fight headlined the UFC 308 pay-per-view card.
An incredibly competitive striking performance by the high-level featherweights came to a sudden close in the third round due to Topuria’s powerful boxing. A clean right hand stung Holloway early in the round, causing him to uncharacteristically begin retreating.
Topuria started to empty his tank after that moment, coming forward with endless punches. The shots continued to connect, with a flush left hand flooring Holloway. While “Blessed” Holloway has long been known for his toughness as a striker, ground and pound shots put an end to the fight and caused him to take a TKO/KO loss for the first time in his 34-fight pro career.
The title bout was nothing short of a back-and-forth war before the finish. The first and second rounds were hard to score, with both featherweights landing hard shots. Holloway scored frequently with his jab and proved to have crisp boxing. Topuria would charge forward with combinations which would connect and kept the threat of a takedown present as well.
A humble Topuria mentioned afterward the impact of Holloway, who has the third-longest title reign in featherweight history and was looking to start his second run on top this weekend.
“I don’t know what to say, to be honest,” Topuria said. “To beat a legend like Max Holloway, it’s something that I couldn’t even believe … He’s been a great example for the [next] generation, and I’ve always said I represent the new generation.”
Topuria’s victory closes out a massive 2024 for the Spanish-Georgian fighter. He captured the belt with another high-profile win earlier this year, stopping Alexander Volkanovski in the second round in February. In just a few months, Topuria has beaten the second and third most successful champs in the division’s history.
When asked about what might be next for him, whether it be a rematch against Volkanovski or a shot against rising contender Diego Lopes, Topuria didn’t shut down any options. The champ went face-to-face with Volkanovski in the cage and told the former king he “deserves” another chance at the belt.
Holloway was fighting to become the first featherweight after Jose Aldo to have a second title reign in the division. He previously lost in three title fights against former champ Volkanovski, but otherwise had put together an 11-year undefeated run at featherweight.
Holloway came into this weekend on a three-fight winning streak, including a “Knockout of the Year” contender up at lightweight against Justin Gaethje.
“He just landed a shot and I guess it hurt much more than I thought it did,” Holloway said afterward. “I felt great ’til he did it.”
While unsuccessful, Holloway further advanced himself in UFC’s record books on Saturday night. His win tied him with Darren Elkins for most featherweight appearances in promotional history (27), and he overtook Frankie Edgar for the second-most total fight time in UFC history.
Despite his loads of experience and a failed bid for the title, Holloway confirmed afterward that he plans to continue fighting.
Khamzat Chimaev notches quick win over Robert Whittaker, possibly positioning him as a future title contender
In the biggest statement performance of his career thus far, rising middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev tapped out former champ Robert Whittaker in the first round.
A dominant opening round for Chimaev, which saw him shoot for a takedown in the opening moments before spending numerous minutes grinding his way toward a choke on the ground, eventually saw him get what he wanted. He slipped on a face crank three-and-a-half minutes into the frame, causing an immediate tap from Whittaker.
After the fight, it seemed clear that the tap emerged not due to any attempt at a choke, but because of the pressure of the hold seemingly injuring the head of Whittaker.
The victory cements Chimaev’s status as one of the top contenders at middleweight. He is arguably prime for a chance against current champ Dricus Du Plessis, along with other options like a rematch against Sean Strickland.
The win was also important optics for Chimaev, taking away from the out-of-cage controversies surrounding him and refocusing on his skills as a fighter.
While Chimaev was at one point expected to be a challenger who would get a title shot in no time, the 30-year-old is now just coming around to a potential championship bout after four years on the UFC roster.
A variety of highly-documented incidents have significantly slowed the run of Chimaev. He has struggled greatly with illness, including a battle with COVID-19 which briefly pushed him into retirement. He hasn’t been perfect with weight cuts, being forced to move up to middleweight after badly missing a welterweight limit for a fight in 2022.
And Chimaev can’t compete on a majority of UFC cards, as ties to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov prevent him from entering the United States.
Chimaev now has a flawless 14-fight record. His previous fight saw him take down former 170-pound champ Kamaru Usman in a middleweight clash, winning at UFC 294 via majority decision.
While it’s been more than five years since the last time Whittaker held a UFC title, he remains one of the top contenders at middleweight. He entered this weekend following a pair of big wins earlier in the year, beating Paulo Costa on scorecards and stopping short-notice opponent Ikram Aliskerov with strikes. His previous defeat, a 2023 bout against Dricus Du Plessis, was the last fight the South African athlete took before receiving a middleweight title shot.
Top 205-pound contender Magomed Ankalaev takes out Aleksandar Rakic
Magomed Ankalaev further entrenched himself as the top light heavyweight title contender on Saturday night, turning back Aleksandar Rakic with a three-round unanimous decision performance on the feet.
Ankalaev proved to be aggressive on the feet against Rakic, pushing forward and landing the more impactful shots. While Rakic had volume, including a career-high of leg kicks thrown, the boxing of Ankalaev allowed him to win rounds.
Specifically the left cross punches from Ankalaev connected throughout the fight, whipping back the head of Rakic and stunning him with a shot to the body at one point.
Ankalaev described Rakic’s backpedalling style on the feet as “uncomfortable” after winning in a two-rounds-to-one decision.
“I kept running after him and it was really hard to catch him,” he said through an interpreter.
Ankalaev, the current first-ranked contender at light heavyweight, continues to eye a fight against incumbent champ Alex Pereira following his win on Saturday. Ankalaev has gone undefeated since 2018 and has now scored a pair of victories since his 2022 draw against Jan Blachowicz for the then-vacant title.
Out of the top four talents in the division, Ankalaev is the sole talent who Pereira has yet to face. Now that they are both no longer scheduled to compete for a future fight, it would seem likely that they are destined to meet up in the cage sometime in the future.
Saturday’s top light heavyweight matchup was another tough assignment for Rakic gone wrong. The long-time contender has taken a trio of losses since 2022, previously suffering an injury against Blachowicz and getting stopped earlier this year against Jiri Prochazka.
Headlines from earlier in the night…
12th-ranked featherweight Lerone Murphy got past another tough contender, going three rounds against Dan Ige to win via unanimous decision. Murphy’s record is now an impressive 15 wins, including seven in the UFC.
The much-hyped Shara Magomedov earned an incredibly unique finish, scoring a combination of two spinning backfists to stop Armen Petrosyan in the second round, closing out an impressive 12-month run in the UFC. The undefeated Russian earned four consecutive wins since joining the UFC promotion at last year’s Abu Dhabi pay-per-view card, including a pair of finishes due to strikes.
Veteran Rafael dos Anjos had his fight against Geoff Neal suddenly come to an end in less than two minutes due to a leg injury. The 36-bout UFC vet is now on the first three-fight losing streak of his career.
The evening opened with controversy, as a large number of viewers disagreed with a unanimous decision result for Rinat Fakhretdinov over Carlos Leal. Media scorecards via MMADecisions.com saw all 16 ballots go in favor of Leal.
