UFC 308 Preview

UFC 308 will take place on Saturday morning with a special start time of 10:00 AM Eastern Time from Abu Dhabi Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There are 13 fights scheduled for this event, which can be seen on ESPN and pay-per-view.
Main Event – Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway
The main event will feature the UFC featherweight championship on the line as Ilia Topuria will look to defend his crown against veteran and former champion Max Holloway. Topuria enters this fight undefeated, with a record of 15 – 0.
The 27-year-old German champion is 7 – 0 in the UFC, with his last fight ending in a knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in the second round at UFC 298. This will be his first title defense since winning eight months ago.
His opponent on Saturday is Max Holloway, the former featherweight champion and BMF champion. Holloway has faced the who’s who in the featherweight division and has also made several appearances in the lightweight division.
He is durable, and probably one of the most experienced fighters Topuria has ever faced. This is a great test for the undefeated fighter, going up against someone like Holloway, who was on a three-fight win streak over Justin Gaethji, Chan Sung Jung, and Arnold Allen.
If we’re playing MMA math, we have to give the advantage here to Ilia Taparia, as he has beaten Alexander Volkanovski, and Holloway has lost to Alexander Volkanovski, not once, not twice, but three times.
Co-Main Event – Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev
In the coming event, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will take on Khamzat Chimaev. Whittaker entered this fight because of the last two bouts with a first-round knockout of I cram al Askerov and a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa. Since moving to the middleweight division, his only three losses in the UFC have been against Israel Adesanya and current champ Dracus Duplessis.
Whittaker, or Bobby Knuckles as they like to call him, is an excellent striker. We’ll look to avoid the takedown and keep this fight standing. Chimaeev certainly does not want to stand and bang with the likes of Whittaker.
Chimaeev last saw inside the Octagon over a year ago. It will be interesting to see if the cage rust shows in this fight, knowing he last fought on October 21st of 2023, a majority decision win over former champion Kamara Usman.
He has some of the best wrestling and grappling in the UFC’s middleweight division, but his cardio has been tested in the past. One thing that we look for is how his chin will hold up against Whittaker’s striking.
He’s never fought anyone with hands like Whittaker, which has to be somewhat of a concern for an untested chin.
UFC 308 Free Play
Our free play for UFC 308 will be Bruno Ferreira as a + 115 underdog over Abus Magomedov. The last time we were not impressed with Magomedov was when he entered the UFC. Conversely, we’re big on the Hulk. Ferreira has powerful striking, as evidenced by his nine knockout wins in 13 fights. We think Ferreira gets the KO here over an overrated Magomedov!