| UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | October 26, 2024 | |||
| Venue | Etihad Arena | |||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |||
| Attendance | Not announced [1] | |||
| Total gate | Not announced [1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 26, 2024, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. [2]
The event marked the promotion's 20th visit to Abu Dhabi and first since UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov in August 2024. [2]
A UFC Featherweight Championship bout between current champion Ilia Topuria and former champion Max Holloway headlined the event. [3] [4] Diego Lopes served as backup and potential replacement for this fight. [5]
A five-round middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion (also The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner) Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev took place at the event. [6] They were previously expected to headline UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov last June, but Chimaev withdrew due to illness. [7]
A heavyweight rematch between former interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Ciryl Gane and former Bellator Heavyweight World Champion Alexander Volkov was expected to take place at the event. [8] The pairing previously headlined UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov in June 2021 which Gane won by unanimous decision. [9] However, the bout was moved to UFC 310 due to Volkov's knee injury. [10] [11]
A heavyweight bout between Marcos Rogério de Lima and Kennedy Nzechukwu was scheduled for this event. [12] However, Lima withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Justin Tafa. [13] Subsequently, Tafa withdrew from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Chris Barnett. [14]
A welterweight bout between Rinat Fakhretdinov and Nursulton Ruziboev was scheduled for this event. [15] However, Ruziboev withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was replaced by former LFA Welterweight Champion and promotional newcomer Carlos Leal. [16]
A bantamweight bout between Said Nurmagomedov and Daniel Santos was scheduled for this event. [17] However, one week before the event, Santos withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and the bout was subsequently cancelled. [18] [19]
At the weigh-ins, a lightweight bout between Mateusz Rębecki and Myktybek Orolbai was changed to a 160 pounds catchweight bout. [20] In addition, at the weigh-ins, the originally contracted bantamweight bout between Farid Basharat and Victor Hugo was changed to a featherweight bout after Hugo weighed in at 145.5 pounds, 9.5 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit; although Basharat weighed in at 137 pounds, he agreed to allow the fight to take place at featherweight. [21]
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Featherweight | Ilia Topuria (c) | def. | Max Holloway | KO (punches) | 3 | 1:34 | [a] |
| Middleweight | Khamzat Chimaev | def. | Robert Whittaker | Submission (face crank) | 1 | 3:34 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Magomed Ankalaev | def. | Aleksandar Rakić | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Lerone Murphy | def. | Dan Ige | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Sharabutdin Magomedov | def. | Armen Petrosyan | KO (spinning backfists) | 2 | 4:52 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN+) | |||||||
| Light Heavyweight | Ibo Aslan | def. | Raffael Cerqueira | TKO (punches) | 1 | 0:51 | |
| Welterweight | Geoff Neal | def. | Rafael dos Anjos | TKO (knee injury) | 1 | 1:30 | |
| Catchweight (160 lb) | Mateusz Rębecki | def. | Myktybek Orolbai | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Abusupiyan Magomedov | def. | Brunno Ferreira | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | 3 | 3:14 | |
| Heavyweight | Kennedy Nzechukwu | def. | Chris Barnett | TKO (knee to the body and punches) | 1 | 4:27 | |
| Featherweight | Farid Basharat | def. | Victor Hugo | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Ismail Naurdiev | def. | Bruno Silva | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Rinat Fakhretdinov | def. | Carlos Leal | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses. [23]
