Ilia Topuria Will Attempt to Crack Max Holloway’s Legendary Chin at UFC 308

August 7, 2024

1 month

Max Holloway has to feel a debt of gratitude for Ilia Topuria. Without Topuria ending Alexander Volkanovski’s long reign as featherweight champion, Holloway could have been relegated to spending the rest of his career as the UFC’s best gatekeeper.

But Topuria knocked out Volkanovski, who has three wins over Holloway, at UFC 298 to claim the UFC featherweight championship. When MMAfighting latest news was attempting to determine who Topuria’s first opponent for his first title defense would be, Holloway produced a spectacular finish at UFC 300. The meeting between Topuria and Holloway will headline UFC 298 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.

In a fight Holloway was already winning on the scorecards, he pointed to the center of the octagon and traded wild haymakers with Justin Gaethje. Holloway landed a nasty punch to flatline Gaethje and make himself an appealing title challenger again.

Holloway is an appealing puncher to challenge the hard-punching Spaniard because of how tough he is. Holloway, a former featherweight champion himself, has never been knocked out in 33 professional fights. Only two of Topuria’s 15 fights have seen the scorecards.

This will be a fun fight between two of the most exciting fighters in the division. UFC CEO Dana White announced four fights for the UFC 308 card, all of which will have major implications on the future of several weight divisions moving forward.

Whittaker, Chimaev is Exciting in Theory

Khamzat Chimaev may be a fighter whose career we look at in 10 years and wonder what could have been. Chimaev has all of the skills to be a champion in the UFC’s middleweight division. However, illness has forced Chimaev to pull out of several important fights during his career.

In theory, Chimaev could put himself in line for a title shot if he can beat former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. But Chimaev, who memorably debuted in the UFC by fighting three times in a three-month span in 2020, has only fought four times since the calendar turned over to 2021.

Chimaev’s behavior has been erratic. He caused a gigantic mess at UFC 279 by missing weight and forcing an entire pay-per-view card to be rearranged. MMA latest updates show that Whittaker has been a much more active fighter.

Many people thought Whittaker was washed up after he was knocked out in the second round by Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290. However, Whittaker has responded to that by winning consecutive fights. Chimaev is 13-0 and still uber-talented, but he must stay healthy before anyone will take him seriously again.

Gane Ready to be Back in Action

Ciryl Gane is stuck in the heavyweight logjam caused by the injury to champion Jon Jones. The former interim heavyweight champion hasn’t fought yet in 2024. There were reports he was offered a fight with Tom Aspinall but turned it down.

The best MMA news sites show Gane’s opponent at this event will be a tricky one. Alexander Volkov doesn’t seem to be slowing down at age 35. In fact, he may be in the best run of his UFC tenure. He has won four straight fights, including three wins by stoppage.

Volkov’s last performance may have been his best. He leaned on his length to attack dangerous striker Sergei Pavlovich from a distance. While the result was a rather slow decision, it was an impressive win for the veteran.

Gane is also a well-rounded fighter and will have to employ all of his skills to try and slow down Volkov. Gane is a fighter who has earned a lot of good opportunities early in his career. He will want another win to keep his name on everyone’s minds.

Should Ankalaev be Next Light Heavyweight Title Challenger?

Magomed Ankalaev had to be annoyed. At UFC 282, he fought to a draw for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title with former champion Jan Błachowicz. But no rematch was scheduled for that fight.

Instead, the UFC decided to go in another direction and force Ankalaev to fight down in the rankings against Johnny Walker. If Ankalaev can beat Aleksandar Rakić at UFC 308, he should once again put himself into the pool of fighters being considered to fight Alex Perreira.

Losing to Rakić would be a difficult loss to take. Rakić has taken back-to-back knockout losses to former champions. At UFC 300, Rakić took a second-round TKO loss to Jiří Procházka.

Ankalaev will need to push for a finish in this fight. Part of the reason why Ankalaev didn’t get another opportunity to fight for the title right away following his draw with Błachowicz was because White deemed the fight boring.

You can’t afford to have the boss thinking you are boring.

Undercard Should Provide Plenty of Spunk

Dan Ige is willing to get off his couch in Las Vegas and fight on short notice. It should be no surprise that Ige would be willing to go halfway around the world to take on a difficult opponent. Ige will be tasked with trying to hand Lerone Murphy his first loss in the octagon.

Murphy, an English fighter, is on a 15-fight unbeaten streak to open his career. The only blemish on Murphy’s record came during his first fight in the UFC back in September 2019. He fought to a draw with Zubaira Tukhugov.

Murphy has followed that up with six consecutive victories. Ige is a long-time UFC veteran who has always been noted for his toughness in the cage. Ige has lost two of his last three fights, but is always capable of pulling off something spectacular.

There should be a few more fights announced as the event gets closer. Here’s a list of other fights that have been announced for the event: