UFC 308 Main Event Breakdown: How Topuria KO’ed Holloway

UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi was headlined by current Undisputed Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria and #2 ranked contender and former Featherweight champ Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway. The highly anticipated bout ended inside three rounds, as Topuria brutally finished Holloway, securing his first title defence of his reign.

Inside The Octagon: Fight Breakdown 

From the moment the lights dropped, and Bruce Buffer iconically announced it was time for the main event to start, the Etihad Arena had a palpable tension over it. All the burning questions fans had about the fighters and the bout were about to be answered: Is Topuria as good as he says he is? Can Holloway still compete at a title-contending level at 145lbs? And most importantly, will Max’s volume or Ilia’s knockout power come out on top? As soon as the referee instructed the combatants to fight, the bout did not disappoint. 

Round 1

Topuria, as he claimed he would during fight week, gestured to the centre of the octagon and invited Max to trade with him – a move now made famous by Holloway throughout his career. However, Max had no interest, even pretending to shake a matador’s cape, comically making Ilia “El Matador” Topuria the bull in this situation. 

This perfectly surmised large portions of the fight as Ilia hunted Max down throughout the first round. At the same time, Holloway attempted to keep distance through kicks, sliding out of range from Topuria’s punches and countering back. Although Topuria has done this to many opponents, Max did not back down, meeting Ilia in car crash exchanges where both fighters landed clean shots. Despite some people’s expectations, Holloway took flush shots from Ilia throughout the round and returned them to the champion. The close first round ended a mix-up on the scorecards, with two judges awarding Topuria a 10-9 round and one judge giving the round to Holloway. 

Round 2

After a competitive 1^st round, Round 2 was more of the same – however, there was a shift in the tide of the bout. Unlike the 1^st round, Ilia began pushing Max back more frequently. He was drawing out Holloway’s lead hand with feints so he could throw his signature counter right overhand over the top. There were multiple times in this round that Topuria barely missed this punch, and there seemed to be a sense of anxiety building in the arena, as if to question not if Ilia would land, but simply when. However, Max was still competitive throughout the round, sliding out of range perfectly to avoid power shots and using his elite footwork to step off to the side when he was pushed back against the fence. 

Round 3

The third round was more of the same for the opening minute, a chess match of footwork, feints and slips – both fighters demonstrating how elite their striking game is. However, what felt like the inevitable eventually happened. Ilia stepped in with his lead hand to occupy Holloways lead hand and came crashing in with a heavy overhand right, cracking Holloway flush. It is a rare sight to see Holloway stunned, but his back peddling and ‘deer in headlights’ stare clearly indicated how hard the shot was – and Ilia wasted no time going on the hunt. In typical Max Holloway nature, he seemed to somewhat recover quickly, however after a few more exchanges where Topuria was pushing him backwards with pressure, the legendary chin of Holloway was finally broken. Inside the pocket, Topuria threw a picture-perfect left hook, which landed clean on Holloway and sent him to the canvas, where Ilia finished him with ground and pound until the referee stopped the fight. Not only did Topuria retain his title impressively, but he also became the first man ever to knock out Max Holloway. 

Aftermath: What does this result mean for both men?

It was a foregone conclusion that if Topuria won this fight, his next defence would be a rematch against former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski—the man Topuria took the belt from with a similarly devastating KO. It seemed set in stone after the former champ met Ilia in the cage during the celebrations. However, the 27-year-old Champion has stated big plans for his future, seemingly planning on becoming a three-weight champion someday. 

For the challenger, there is a sense that his time in the Featherweight division has ended. It appears that lightweight is more of a fitting division for Max, as there are new interesting fights to be made and an easier weight cut. In his previous lightweight bout, he virally knocked out Justin Gaethje in the last second of the fight and did look healthier and adequately sized for the division. Dustin Poirier has even hinted that he might also like Holloway as his final fight before retirement, a must-see for any MMA fan. 

Fighter of the Year?

Conversations have begun about who should be crowned UFC’s Fighter of the Year – and the two names on top of everybody’s lists are Alex Pereira and now Ilia Topuria. Despite Alex’s incredibly active 2024, defending the title 3 times in 175 days, many fans, including myself, believe Topuria should receive the award after this fight. In just 1 year, Ilia Topuria brutally finished arguably the two best featherweights of all time. More importantly, he did it when they were still in their prime at just 27 years old. Although Pereira’s activity is impressive, the level of competition Ilia finished this year, and such at such a young age, puts him highly in contention for the award.