UFC 308: Ilia Topuria VS. Max Holloway
Saturday, October 26 – Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Fight fans will be drawn to the Middle East this weekend as UFC 308 is held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. This event is the 20th to be held in Abu Dhabi and the first since August of this year when Umar Nurmagomedov successfully defended his Bantmanwight crown against Cory Sandhagen.
The headline bout of UFC 308 sees UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria defend his strap for the first time against Max Holloway. Topuria won the featherweight title in February, stopping Alexander Volkanovski in the second round by knockout. Topuria is a perfect 15-0 as a professional, winning five fights by knockout, eight by submission, and two by decision.
The 32-year-old Holloway is five years older than the champion Topuria. He is a former champion in this weight class, winning the featherweight belt from Jose Aldo at UFC 218 in December 2017. Holloway defended the title successfully three times before losing to Volkanovski by unanimous decision at UFC 245 almost precisely two years after winning the championship.
Holloway has since been bested by Volkanovski on two other occasions, with both fights going the distance. He could not work out that Australian fighter and win back the UFC Featherweight Title. His overall record as a professional through 33 fights is 26 wins and seven defeats, with 12 wins by knockout, 12 by decision, and two coming via submission.
Holloway has responded well to those setbacks. He has won four of his last five fights, and his previous outing was iconic. Holloway beat Justin Gaethje in the main event of TFC 300 to win the newly created “BMF” title belt.
“El Matador” is a pressure-heavy fighter. He has the takedown game to be effective at close range and the power strikes to wear down his opponents. This will be tested in Abu Dhabi, as Holloway has one of the strongest chins in the sport’s history. Don’t be shocked if his one goes the full five rounds with plenty of action and two durable fighters.
The lean is to a Topuria win via decision, but to do that, he must take rounds early. Holloway fights at a pace over 25 minutes that few can match, and he seems to have managed to up that pace even further later in his career. If he steals one of the first two rounds, this one becomes very much in the balance.
The semi-main is intriguing. Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev is 13-0, but he has only fought once in the last two years. He faces Robert Whittaker, with “The Reaper” carrying a 26-7 record into the fight.
Borz is the heavy favorite, but I just don’t trust fighters that go that long between fights. If Whittaker can take what Borz throws at him early, the ring rust will start to show in the form of his conditioning. Borz has never gone past Round 3. I like The Reaper in an upset here.
