UFC 308 goes down this Saturday inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as the main event features a blockbuster clash as undefeated featherweight champion Ilia Topuria tries to defend his belt against BMF champion and former featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Click here to watch the UFC 308 fighter face-offs. Footage via ‘MMAFightingonSBN’ on YouTube.
UFC 308 Main Event: Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway
UFC 308’s main event is one for the history books as undefeated featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (15-0-0) tries to defend his belt against ‘BMF’ champion and former featherweight champion No. 2-ranked Max Holloway (26-7-0).
Quite possibly, the best fight of the year will take place at UFC 308 this Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Two of the best fighters on the entire UFC roster finally meet inside the octagon as featherweight champion Ilia Topuria puts his belt on the line against current BMF champion and former featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Both men are coming off show-stopping knockouts over elite competition.
Topuria’s last appearance inside the cage featured the Georgian fighter delivering a nasty right-hand knockout to Alexander Volkanovski while the Australian former champion had his back to the cage.
As for Holloway, the Hawaiian-born fighter last appeared in the cage when he executed a jaw-dropping last-second knockout over former interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Topuria was in the crowd for UFC 300 and seemed utterly shocked by the devastating conclusion to Holloway and Gaethje’s fight.
Topuria, 27, has an unblemished record with notable wins over Alexander Volkanovski, Josh Emmett, and Bryce Mitchell. The undefeated featherweight monster earned his title after knocking Volkanovski out in the second round at UFC 298 in February.
Holloway, 32, is a veteran of the fight game and UFC, and he has been fighting for promotion since 2012. The most notable wins of Holloway’s career have come over Jose Aldo, Justin Gaethje, Yair Rodriguez, Calvin Kattar, Frankie Edgar, and Brian Ortega.
That said, I see Topuria continuing his reign over the featherweight division with a clear decision victory over Holloway at UFC 308.
Topuria comes into this fight as the smaller man. However, that will not deter the champion from coming forward and chasing the knockout.
It will be up to Holloway to display footwork and strike variations to stifle the power puncher’s thudding offense. If Holloway can keep Topuria guessing, he may be able to slip a head kick past Topuria’s defense, similar to how Jai Herbert knocked down Topuria with a head kick in the opening round of their fight back in March 2022.
As for the champion, he will be looking to figure out the movement and shot selection of Holloway so that he can close the striking distance and find the body of Holloway. As long as Topuria can find the midsection of Holloway, he will eventually start landing punches to the head.
I see Topuria landing clean shots on Holloway early in this UFC 308 fight, resulting in the former champion respecting the threat that Topuria presents on the feet. This will cause Holloway to fight backward and give the judges the judge’s octagon side a poor visual.
Prediction: Topuria via Decision
UFC 308 Co-main Event: Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev
UFC 308’s co-main event features a long-awaited five round matchup between elite middleweights No. 3-ranked Robert Whittaker (27-7-0) and the undefeated No. 13-ranked Khamzat Chimaev (13-0-0).
This massive UFC 308 middleweight clash has been in high demand for quite some time now as the former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker looks to earn another crack at middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis.
As for the undefeated phenom Chimaev, he looks to add another legend to his resume at UFC 308 as he inches his way closer to his seemingly inevitable title shot.
Whittaker, 33, comes into this fight riding a two-fight win streak and impressive performances against Ikram Aliskerov and Paulo Costa. The Australian middleweight is 3-2 in his last five fights, with the two losses coming against former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis.
Chimaev, 30, boasts an impressive undefeated record inside the cage. His most notable wins were against Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, Jingliang Li, and Kevin Holland.
That said, I see the highly talented grappler Chimaev able to close the distance and find a submission on Whittaker after choosing to stand and strike with the former champion for the early portion of the fight.
Whittaker will look to keep Chimaev at bay with his lunging strikes and movement inside the cage.
This will be an interesting stylistic clash, as Chimaev is not afraid to engage in a brawl or stray from his coach’s advice in his fights.
However, the grappler holds such immense talent that it is not far fetched that he may look to overpower Whittaker on the mat.
Whittaker needs to keep his back off the cage in this five-rounder, as Chimaev will try to pressure him and keep him on his back foot.
Chimaev does his best work when moving forward, but he struggles to exchange on the feet while going backward.
Look for Chimaev to pick Whittaker off the mat and transition to the back. Here, he will use his supreme wrestling skills to overpower the Australian former champion.
Prediction: Chimaev via R2 Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandr Rakić
One of the bigger fights on UFC 308 showcases top light heavyweights No. 1-ranked Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1, 1NC) and No. 5-ranked Aleksandr Rakić (14-4-0) in a three round title eliminator bout.
A lot is riding on this fight regarding the future of the light heavyweight title picture as Ankalaev and Rakić hope to put on an excellent performance and erase all doubt from UFC President Dana White.
Ankalaev, 32, has only suffered one loss in his entire professional career, which was in his UFC debut in March 2018 against the talented submission specialist Paul Craig. Ankalaev was well on his way to a decision victory until Craig miraculously secured a triangle choke with one second remaining on the fight clock.
The well-rounded fighter has impressive wins over Johnny Walker, Anthony Smith, and Thiago Santos on his resume.
Rakić, 32, comes into this fight hoping to return to his winning ways and insert himself into the title picture after suffering back-to-back stoppage losses against Jiri Prochazka and Jan Blachowicz.
On his resume, the Serbian light heavyweight Rakić has impressive wins against Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, and Jimi Manuwa.
That said, I see Ankalaev leading the dance in this UFC 308 fight, as he will beat Rakić everywhere. Whether striking or grappling on the canvas, I believe Ankalaev has the edge everywhere in this fight.
Rakić’s best approach to winning this fight should center around prioritizing the low kicks and keeping the fight standing.
Ankalaev will be looking to outbox Rakić and mix in well-timed takedowns on the striker. There is more finishing potential in Ankalaev’s hands than in the submission game.
Prediction: Ankalaev via Decision
Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige
UFC 308’s main card has an intriguing matchup between featherweights as undefeated No. 12-ranked Lerone Murphy (14-0-1) takes on No. 14-ranked Dan Ige (18-8-0).
This showdown between 33-year-old featherweight strikers will excite fight fans worldwide as both men look to climb the featherweight rankings with a win on Saturday.
Murphy comes into this UFC 308 fight with an unblemished record, including wins over Edson Barboza, Josh Culibao, Gabriel Santos, and Douglas Silva de Andrade.
The more experienced fighter, Ige, is 3-2 in his last five fights, with wins against Andre Fili, Nate Landwehr, and Damon Jackson.
That said, I see Murphy establishing himself as the better striker and more well-rounded mixed martial artist over three rounds.
Murphy is the naturally bigger and longer fighter, and I believe he will use his size advantage to overpower Ige.
Prediction: Murphy via Decision
Other Fights on UFC 308
Main Card:
- (185 lbs.) Sharaputdin Magomedov (14-0-0) vs. Armen Petrosyan (9-3-0): Magomedov via Decision
Prelims:
- (205 lbs.) Ibo Aslan (13-1-0) vs. Raffael Cerqueira (11-0-0): Cerqueira via KO/TKO R3
- (170 lbs.) Geoff Neal (15-6-0) vs. Rafael Dos Anjos (32-16-0): Neal via Decision
- (Catchweight) Mateusz Rebecki (19-2-0) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (13-1-1): Orolbai via Decision
- (185 lbs.) Abus Magomedov vs. (26-6-1) vs. Brunno Ferreira (12-1-0): Ferreira via KO/TKO R2
- (265 lbs.) Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-5-0) vs. Chris Barnett (23-8-0): Nzechukwu via Decision
- (145 lbs.) Farid Basharat (12-0-0) vs. Victor Hugo (25-4-0): Basharat via Decision
- (185 lbs.) Ismail Naurdiev (23-7-0) vs. Bruno Silva (23-11-0): Silva via Decision
- (170 lbs.) Rinat Fakhretdinov (22-1-1) vs. Carlos Leal (21-5-0): Fakhretdinov via Decision
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