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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ilia Topuria faces off with a legend this October.

The official fight poster has been released for UFC 308, which takes place Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi. In the main event, Topuria puts his featherweight title on the line for the first time when he defends against “BMF” champion Max Holloway.

See the poster below.

The undefeated Topuria won the 145-pound title with a thudding knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 this past February. He became the first fighter to defeat Volkanovski in a featherweight bout and his profile has continued to soar in his dual homes of Spain and Georgia.

Holloway, a former featherweight titleholder, added the BMF belt to his collection at UFC 300 after flattening fellow fan favorite Justin Gaethje. He has won three straight fights since losing a trilogy bout to Volkanovski.

In the UFC 308 co-main event, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker takes on the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev. Whittaker aims for another shot at gold, while Chimaev looks to cement himself as the No. 1 contender despite fighting just four times in the past three years.

See the UFC 308 lineup below.

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige

Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa

Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo

Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev

Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Belal Muhammad will forever be remembered by the city he calls home.

The recently crowned UFC welterweight champion was honored by the city of Chicago, where the fighter was born and raised, at a ceremony on Friday at Harold Washington Library Center. Mayor Brandon Johnson proudly declared Sept. 20 to be Belal Muhammad Day, two months after “Remember The Name” defeated Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 304 to earn his world title.

Muhammad shared a friend’s video of the ceremony on his Instagram Stories. Watch the footage below (re-uploaded by Championship Rounds).

“We do hereby proclaim Sept. 20, 2024, Belal Muhammad Day,” Johnson said.

Muhammad also uploaded a photos from the occasion to his social media.

It’s been a long road to prominence for the 36-year-old Muhammad, who had to go on a 10-fight unbeaten streak before earning his shot at UFC gold. Muhammad scored notable wins over top-10 contenders, including Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, and Demian Maia before finally being granted a crack at Edwards this past July.

The new champion is yet to book his first title defense, though he has no shortage of challengers. Undefeated Kazakh fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov and former champion Kamaru Usman have made their case to be chosen for the opportunity, while others like Brady, Jack Della Maddalena, and Ian Machado Garry are also jockeying for position in the intriguing welterweight division.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Oscar De La Hoya enjoyed UFC 306, but that didn’t change his mind about Dana White.

For the past several years, De La Hoya and White have taken shots at one another through the media over all manner of things. However, if there’s one person in combat sports De La Hoya is on worse terms with, it’s his former fighter Canelo Alvarez. So this past weekend, when Alvarez fought Edgar Berlanga, going head-to-head with “Noche UFC” in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend, the boxing Hall of Famer declared he would attend UFC 306 instead of the boxing event.

Apparently De La Hoya did just that, and rather enjoyed himself at Sphere.

“UFC Noche. I was true to my word,” De La Hoya said on Instagram. “I did attend last Saturday. I sat in [Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority] Turki [Alalshikh’s] box upstairs and I have to be honest with you, it was beautiful. It was spectacular. It looked really cool. The production value was there, everything was amazing. The fights were actually really good. So congratulations to Turki for footing the bill on this and making this celebration of the Mexican culture come to life.

“And Dana, I know this wasn’t your idea or vision. Nothing ever is at the UFC. You’re the Fertitta’s errand boy. But I’m always honest and fair, and I want to praise the production. UFC Noche was a good time and I really enjoyed it.”

Part of the production involved in UFC 306 was telling the history of Mexico through several vignettes played on Sphere’s screens. One chapter focused on Mexico’s history in combat sports, which even included De La Hoya.

But while De La Hoya enjoyed UFC 306, the same can’t be said for the Canelo vs. Berlanga fight. The bout received substantial criticism beforehand as Canelo was a massive favorite, and that bore out on Saturday night as Canelo won a wide unanimous decision, even dropping Berlanga in the third round.

Because Canelo was unable to finish Berlanga despite the perceived gap between them, De La Hoya excoriated the pound-for-pound standout.

“As far as the action, I called it in advance. Another fight that went the distance without any truly exciting moments,” De La Hoya said. “Berlanga didn’t win one round! He was never remotely in the fight from the first bell. Is this where boxing is going? The bar has been set so low that fans are just happy to see fighters last 12 rounds? What? Fighters are getting praised for simply going the distance with a 35-year-old Canelo who hasn’t knocked anybody out since 2021. Don’t you all want to see knockouts?

“I’m from a different time in this sport when fighters went to war in the ring. We wanted to destroy our opponents. I still took the [Manny] Pacquiao fight knowing my body was broken and old and I couldn’t beat him, but I was a warrior. I wanted to be a legend. It’s a different mentality, a champion’s mentality. Canelo wants to get paid. He avoids [Joseph] Benavidez and [Dmitry] Bivol who schooled him just like [Floyd] Mayweather. He wants to cruise easily into retirement.

“Where are the fighters who have balls? Don’t we want to see the best fight the best? Why are we, as boxing fans, accepting this low level competition and entertainment?”

De La Hoya previously promoted Alvarez until Canelo left Golden Boy Promotions in 2020. Earlier this year, Alvarez claimed De La Hoya stole money from his fighters which led De La Hoya to threaten legal action in return.

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