Topuria retains featherweight title at UFC 308; Chimaev defeats Whittaker

Ilia Topuria support his featherweight title against Max Holloway, portion Chechnya’s Khamzat Chimaev remained undefeated successful the middleweight class.

Champion Ilia Topuria overcame aboriginal adversity to people a thunderous third-round knockout triumph implicit Hawaii’s Max Holloway to clasp the UFC featherweight rubric astatine UFC 308 astatine the Etihad Arena successful Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The 27-year-old Topuria scored an aboriginal takedown but struggled to negociate the region done the archetypal 2 frames of an intriguing rubric fight. Once helium figured it out, the penning was connected the partition for his opponent.

Holloway, who defeated Jose Aldo to go undisputed featherweight champ successful June 2017 but mislaid the loop successful December 2019, utilized his dizzying array of strikes to support his Georgian-born hostile astatine bay, but Topuria’s piston-like close manus was a menace passim connected Saturday night.

That close manus was what started Holloway’s demise, but it was a follow-up abbreviated near that sent Holloway crashing to the canvas and past Topuria rapidly followed him to the ground, raining down blows earlier referee Marc Goddard jumped successful to halt the fight.

“With that close hand, I felt it. I conscionable saw it with him, successful his face, helium started making immoderate steps back, and you don’t spot that often with Max,” Topuria said, paying tribute to his hostile arsenic Holloway suffered the archetypal knockout nonaccomplishment of his UFC tenure.

“I anticipation I’m going to beryllium a tiny information of the illustration helium has been for me, for the caller generation.”

Chimaev triumph sets up imaginable rubric combat with Du Plessis

In the co-main event, undefeated Chechen Khamzat Chimaev enactment connected different ascendant grappling show earlier submitting erstwhile champ Robert Whittaker successful the archetypal circular of their middleweight contest.

Chimaev wasted nary clip taking the Australian down, utilizing his limpet-like wrestling to power Whittaker earlier taking his backmost and latching connected to a look crank that appeared to dislocate his opponent’s jaw, forcing a precise speedy pat with 1:26 near to spell successful the archetypal frame.

Chimaev is present tipped to beryllium the fig 1 contender to combat South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis for the UFC middleweight satellite rubric successful aboriginal 2025, successful what would beryllium a blockbuster matchup.

Khamzat Chimaev, back, chokes Robert Whittaker during a middleweight bout astatine UFC Fight Night connected Saturday, October 26, 2024, successful Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates [Altaf Qadri/AP]