UFC 308 LIVE: Topuria knocks out Holloway after Chimaev submits Whittaker
Re-live updates and see all results after Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway met in a highly-anticipated title fight
Ilia Topuria got up and running as featherweight champion at UFC 308, with a history-making knockout of Max Holloway.
After two tense, closely-fought rounds, Topuria hurt Holloway with a right cross in the third frame, before dropping the former champion with a left hook. Topuria, 27, then poured on ground and pound to force a stoppage, becoming the first fighter to knock out the Hawaiian, 32.
With that, Topuria built on his title win from February, when he knocked out long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski. Saturday’s result in Abu Dhabi also kept Topuria unbeaten, as the Spanish-Georgian moved to 16-0.
In the co-main event of UFC 308, Khamzat Chimaev also stayed unbeaten, submitting ex-champ Robert Whittaker in the first round of their middleweight clash.
Re-live updates and see all results from the UFC 308 main card and prelims, below.
UFC 308 LIVE: Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway
Round three
Topuria takes the centre of the ring. Holloway kicks to the body then the legs. Jab by the Hawaiian. Nice body shot now.
Another body kick by Holloway, who briefly switched to southpaw there. Topuria with a low kick to great effect, and another. Max with a series of oblique kicks to the knee area...
HARD right hand by Topuria, and Max is wobbly! Topuria backs him up and lands a flurry of body shots! Max fights back, then skips away.
OH! Topuria floors Holloway BADLY with a left hook! Ground and pound, and it’s all over! He promised to become the first man to KO Holloway, and he delivered on that!
Ilia Topuria def. Max Holloway via third-round KO (punches, 1:34)
UFC 308 LIVE: Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway
Round two
Stern jab by Holloway, then a hard cross. Both men kick low. Another Holloway jab lands. Body kicks from the former champ, then more fine jabs.
Topuria loads up on a one-two, and catches Holloway on the end of those punches. Same again. Now a decent left hook by the champion. He jabs to the body twice from range.
Hard low kick by Topuria, who is gaining some momentum now. Another. Slick jabs by Holloway. Left hook lands for Topuria! Hard shot.
Low kicks by Holloway. Another hard left hook by Topuria, then an overhand right. Tough jab by Holloway, but he’s getting backed up now...
Clean cross by Topuria, but Holloway takes it well. Right hook to the body of the Hawaiian. Clean cross by Holloway.
Topuria with a wild swing. Then a smarter shot: a jab to the body. Hard low kick by the champion. Both men land punches to the head simultaneously. Spinning back kick to the body by Holloway.
Indy Sport has it 19-19 after two rounds.
UFC 308 LIVE: Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway
Both men are in the ring. This could be special.
Spanish football icon Sergio Ramos is at ringside to support Topuria, as is UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili – a fellow Georgian.
Round one
Here we go. As promised, Topuria tries to lure Holloway into standing and trading in the opening seconds – as Max did in the final seconds against Gaethje, and previously at the end of his fight with Ricardo Lamas.
Max wisely opts against it. Topuria shakes his head as if he’s disappointed. The champion stalks forward. Max with a few front kicks already, and some body kicks, to try to deter “El Matador”.
Topuria is going for the kill early. Holloway is trying to stay mobile but also active with his output. Oh! Topuria shoots for a takedown, lifts and dumps Holloway!
Holloway stands and gets free, though. Topuria has some marking around his right eye, but he lands a decent right hand. Holloway with a good counter.
Sharp jab by Holloway, nice low kick by Topuria. Overhand lands for Topuria, then he backs up Holloway to the fence and unloads shots. He’s got a few KOs that way, including against Volkanovski, but Holloway skips away.
More kicks from Holloway. Topuria is throwing lots of jabs. The champ loads up on a combination but is too close to land clean. Holloway lands some straight shots now.
He misses with a couple of head kicks on the shorter man, then connects with two counter punches after Topuria’s own one-two, which missed.
Holloway seems to hurt Topuria slightly with an elbow! Now a piston jab by Holloway. Max misses with a spinning back kick.
OH! Holloway is dropped, but it seemed more of a tangling of the feet. Topuria takes the back but doesn’t have time to work. Intriguing round.
UFC 308 LIVE: Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway
Both men are in the ring. This could be special.
Spanish football icon Sergio Ramos is at ringside to support Topuria, as is UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili – a fellow Georgian.
UFC 308 LIVE: Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway
Next up, the main event... Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway clash in a highly-anticipated title fight.
The unbeaten Topuria claimed the men’s featherweight belt in February, ending Alexander Volkanovski’s long title reign with a brutal knockout in round two.
In doing so, he achieved what Max Holloway could not accomplish in three fights; the Hawaiian lost the belt to Volkanovski in 2019 and failed to regain it in two rematches, losing all three bouts via decision.
However, Holloway tends to bounce back well, and his current winning streak peaked in April, when he dominated Justin Gaethje before faceplanting him in the very last second – securing the ‘Baddest Motherf*****’ belt with an all-time great KO.
UFC 308 LIVE: Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev
This one may well be a No 1 contender’s fight at middleweight.
Chimaev sprinted to the ring, before an intense-looking Whittaker marched to the cage. Bruce Buffer has the fighter introductions...
Round one
Whittaker kicks low, then leans back to evade a head kick. Chimaev shoots for a takedown immediately, and Whittaker sprawls but can’t keep him off...
Chimaev is grinding down Whittaker against the fence. He thinks about a choke, then throws a few punches. He’s alternating back and forth. Chimaev also has one hook in with his leg. He abandons it and drags Whittaker along the fence.
Whittaker already has some marking around his right eye. Chimaev takes the back and is working on a rear naked choke...
But Whittaker scrambles and stands! A good sign for him, but he’s immediately taken back down. Half-the-round still to go... Another scramble ensues, and Whittaker does well to avoid the rear naked choke again.
He throws a few strikes, then switches to a choke, and Whittaker taps straight away!!!
It was actually a submission across Whittaker’s jaw, not his neck, so his jaw might have gotten dislocated. He tapped IMMEDIATELY.
Khamzat Chimaev def. Robert Whittaker via first-round submission (face crank, 3:34).
UFC 308 LIVE: Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev
This one may well be a No 1 contender’s fight at middleweight.
Chimaev sprinted to the ring, before an intense-looking Whittaker marched to the cage. Bruce Buffer has the fighter introductions...
UFC 308 LIVE: Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev has opened up on the ‘difficulty’ of seeing his one-year-old son deal with health issues – a physical battle that the fighter knows all too well.
Chimaev is 13-0 in MMA with 11 finishes, and he stormed to 3-0 in the UFC with three fights in two months in 2020. That run led fans to predict that the Russian-born Swede would race to a title at welterweight or middleweight – his preferred divisions – but Chimaev’s career has been stop-start since.
The 30-year-old contracted Covid in December 2020 and has continued to battle lingering effects of the illness, fighting just four times in the last four years. And now, Chimaev is tasked with keeping his young son healthy, as well as himself.
Ahead of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, where Chimaev resides and where he will fight Robert Whittaker tonight, the “Wolf” spoke to ESPN.
Here’s what he had to say:
UFC star Khamzat Chimaev reveals one-year-old son’s health issues
Chimaev, who has struggled with his own health in recent years, fights Robert Whittaker this weekend
UFC 308 LIVE: Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev
Next up, it’s the highly-anticipated co-main event: Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight.
Whittaker, a former champion, was due to fight the unbeaten Russian in June, but Chimaev withdrew on short notice due to “violent” illness.
It was the latest setback for Chimaev, who has battled health issues in recent years, but who has been scintillating when he has fought.
When he hasn’t been starching opponents, Chimaev has been winning closely-fought thrillers against Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns.
But Whittaker fans will take hope from those specific performances, given Usman was moving up from welterweight on short notice, and given the Burns fight was at welterweight – and Chimaev was knocked down that night.
The thinking here is that Whittaker must survive the first two rounds, and that the Australian can pull ahead in the final three. That’s right: we have five rounds scheduled here.
By the way, when Chimaev withdrew in June, Whittaker faced Ikram Aliskerov on short notice and knocked him out in round one.
UFC 308 LIVE: Magomed Ankalaev vs Aleksandar Rakic
Round three
A slower round so far, but with Ankalaev edging forward almost constantly – as he did in the first two rounds.
A left hand tags Rakic hard now. He needs to throw back, but whenever he does, Ankalaev is quick to flick out counters...
Rakic shoots for a single-leg takedown, and Ankalaev hops back to the fence. Good defence by Ankalaev, and he eventually reverses the position. Harsh knees thrown to the thighs of Rakic. Now Ankalaev aims those knees at the body of Rakic.
We’ll go to the scorecards, where Ankalaev should pick up the win.
Magomed Ankalaev def. Aleksandar Rakic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). A title shot is surely next for Ankalaev. Bring on Alex Pereira...
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