Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway to headline UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will make the first defence of his title against the division's No 2-ranked contender Max Holloway in the headline bout of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, organisers announced on Tuesday.

Topuria, who is unbeaten in his MMA career after 15 fights, won the title by knocking out long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February. In Holloway (26-7-0), the Spaniard faces an experienced and popular fighter coming off one of the biggest wins of his career when he stopped Justin Gaethje with one second remaining of their epic bout at UFC 300 four months ago.

The co-main on October 26 at Etihad Arena will be a clash of top middleweights as No 3-ranked contender Robert Whittaker faces the 11th-ranked Khamzat Chimaev in a five-round matchup with title implications.

Undefeated Chimaev, who lives in Dubai and competes under the UAE flag, has fought in Abu Dhabi four times with the UFC, including his most recent outing against former middleweight champion Kamaru Usman, who he defeated by majority decision.

Long regarded as one of the biggest talents on the UFC roster, Chimaev's progress has been disrupted by illness and injury in recent years. He was initially scheduled to fight Whittaker in the headline bout of the UFC's inaugural event in Saudi Arabia in June but withdrew with illness. This rearranged bout with Whittaker will take place more than one year after his win over Usman at UFC 294.

Whittaker, meanwhile, has been extremely active this year and this will be his third fight of 2024. The New Zealander, a former UFC middleweight champion, knocked out late replacement Ikram Aliskerov in the first round in Riyadh and previously defeated Paulo Costa on points in February.

The undercard fights were also announced on Tuesday, with former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane of France (12-2-0) taking on Russia's Alexander Volkov (38-10-0), and Dagestan's Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1) matched with Aleksandar Rakic (14-4-0) of Austria in a light-heavyweight bout.

Another heavyweight fight will see Brazil's Marcos Rogerio de Lima (22-9-1) face American Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-5-0), while Russian Rinat Fakhretdinov (23-2-1) and Nursulton Ruziboev (34-9-2) of the United States will compete at welterweight.

At lightweight, American Geoff Neal (15-6-0) will meet Brazil's Rafael Dos Anjos (32-16-0), following a featherweight bout between England's Lerone Murphy (14-0-1) and Dan Ige (18-8-0) of the USA. Also on the card is a middleweight fight between Germany's Abus Magomedov (26-6-1) and Brunno Ferreira (12-1-0) of Brazil.

UFC 308 will be the 20th UFC event held in the UAE over the past decade and will continue to strengthen the ties between Abu Dhabi and the world's leading MMA promotion.

Abu Dhabi first hosted a UFC show back in April 2010, but it was the launch of UFC Fight Island in 2020, which allowed events to continue during the pandemic, that solidified the emirate as an international MMA fight capital.

Tickets for UFC 308 are already on sale and can be purchased at etihadarena.ae and ticketmaster.ae.

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