Topuria retains featherweight title at UFC 308; Chimaev defeats Whittaker
Al Jazeera
Ilia Topuria defends his featherweight championship against Max Holloway, while Khamzat Chimaev remains undefeated.
Champion Ilia Topuria overcame early adversity to score a thunderous third-round knockout victory over Hawaii’s Max Holloway to retain the UFC featherweight title at UFC 308 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The 27-year-old Topuria scored an early takedown but struggled to manage the distance through the first two frames of an intriguing title fight. Once he figured it out, the writing was on the wall for his opponent.
Holloway, who defeated Jose Aldo to become undisputed featherweight champ in June 2017 but lost the belt in December 2019, used his dizzying array of strikes to keep his Georgian-born opponent at bay, but Topuria’s piston-like right hand was a threat throughout on Saturday night.
That right hand was what started Holloway’s demise, but it was a follow-up short left that sent Holloway crashing to the canvas and then Topuria quickly followed him to the ground, raining down blows before referee Marc Goddard jumped in to stop the fight.
“With that right hand, I felt it. I just saw it with him, in his face, he started making some steps back, and you don’t see that often with Max,” Topuria said, paying tribute to his opponent as Holloway suffered the first knockout loss of his UFC tenure.
