UFC 308 is in the books and it was an unforgettable event. Ilia Topuria is still the featherweight champion after an astonishing knockout of former titleholder Max Holloway – the first time Holloway has ever been knocked down in his 34-pro fighting career.
The fight went as expected from the jump, with both men firing off incredible power shots over two rounds. After the second break, Holloway seemed to gain momentum with his volume and head movement, frustrating Topuria as he marched forward. Instead, Topuria flipped the script in the third round by forcing Holloway against the fence and stunning him with a straight right hand before uncorking a perfect left hook to put him down for good.
Elsewhere on the card, Khamzat Chimaev roared back onto the scene with a dominant performance against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Chimaev took down Whittaker in the opening moments and never relented. He continued to look for submission attempts with his incredible ground control before finally forcing his forearm across Whittaker’s face and causing a submission. Whittaker said he thought he dislocated his jaw in the hold. The win seemingly puts Chimaev on track to a middleweight title fight with Dricus du Plessis after years of waiting due to illness and injury.
“They showed me the photo,” Chimaev said said when I spoke to reporters at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference. “I felt something was wrong with his chin when I pushed on it. I feel bad. I didn’t mean to break his chin, but it’s my job. If I make someone feel pain, I’m happy.”
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UFC 308 fight card, odds
- Ilia Topuria (c) final. Max Holloway via third-round knockout (punches)
- Khamzat Chimaev def. Robert Whittaker via first round submission (face crank)
- Magomed Ankalaev def. Aleksandar Rakic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lerone Murphy def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan via knockout in the second round (punch)
- Ibo Aslan defeats. Rafael Cerqueira via TKO in the first round (punches)
- Geoff Neal def. Rafael dos Anjos via first round TKO (injury)
- Mateusz Rebecki def. Myktybek Orolbai via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Abus Magomedov def. Brunno Ferreira via third round submission (arm triangle choke)
- Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Chris Barnett via TKO in the first round (punches)
- Farid Basharat defeated Victor Hugo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ismail Naurdiev def. Bruno Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)