Ilia Topuria knocks out Max Holloway | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Ilia Topuria may have just locked up the Fighter of the Year.
On Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, Topuria became the first man to knock out Max Holloway, finishing him with punches in the third round of the UFC 308 main event. Following Saturday’s pay-per-view event, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew react to Topuria’s astonishing performance and where this puts him not only in the Fighter of the Year conversation, but in the pound-for-pound mix.
On top of that, MMA Fighting discusses Khamzat Chimaev breaking Robert Whittaker’s jaw with a brutal submission and whether that allows him to leapfrog Sean Strickland for a middleweight title shot, Magomed Ankalaev’s workmanlike win over Aleksandar Rakic, the judging controversies that riddled the rest of the card, and much more.
Watch the UFC 308 post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.
The MMA world was taken aback with how easily Khamzat Chimaev defeated Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of UFC 308, namely pointing to how quick the former champion tapped as Chimaev was locking in a face crank.
The commentary team suggested that the Australian may have suffered a dislocated jaw — and the results from the crank ended up being as damaging as some have feared.
During the commentary team’s wrap-up segment, Cormier showed a picture on his phone that showed Whittaker’s front teeth crushed. He also confirmed that Whittaker’s jaw was indeed fractured by Chimaev’s submission hold.
Oh my goodness. This is what happened to Robert Whittaker's jaw from Khamzat Chimaev's face crank. Insane. #UFC308 pic.twitter.com/gC0jXDT5Gm
— Jay Pettry (@jaypettry) October 26, 2024
Robert Whittaker’s Teeth Crushed, Jaw Fractured As A Result Of Khamzat Chimaev’s Face Crank
Chimaev was easily able to take down his opponent mere seconds into their fight, having complete control in the exchanges on the ground and dominant grappling position up to the submission.
“Borz” improved to 14-0 after a year-long layoff, with an 8-0 UFC record since his promotional debut in 2020. His fight with the Aussie was originally supposed to take place at the inaugural UFC card in Saudi Arabia this past June before Chimaev fell violently ill.
The Chechen-born UAE resident also became just the third man to defeat (and finish) Whittaker since “The Reaper” moved up to 185 pounds about a decade ago. The only two other men to accomplish that is current UFC Middleweight hampion Dricus Du Plessis and former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya.
Chimaev’s performance gives speculation as to if he will now be next to challenge “Stillknocks.”
Read More: UFC 308 Results & Highlights: Ilia Topuria KOs Max Holloway
Continue Reading PHOTO: Robert Whittaker Shows Gruesome Injury From Khamzat Chimaev Face Crank At UFC 308 (GRAPHIC) at MMA News.
Dana White promises that Francis Ngannou is the last thing on his mind.
Despite not working together for nearly two years, the UFC CEO and the former heavyweight champion rarely escape questions about each other. The latest fracas started after White revealed that he wanted to cut Ngannou after he suffered back-to-back losses in the UFC in 2018.
That earned a response from Ngannou, who called his former boss a “bully” and added that White is probably “praying for my downfall” while also claiming that the UFC actually owes money that was promised to him after wins over Ciryl Gane and Stipe Miocic.
“When have you ever heard a story in all the years we’ve been in business, even when it was upside down, where we owed somebody money? Never happened,” White said about Ngannou’s claims at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference. “So he’s full of shit there.
“Then, I lost? I didn’t lose anything. I was done with Francis after the [Derrick Lewis fight]. Actually, he owes me money because we had to watch that fight with him and ‘The Black Beast.’ He should actually pay me back for that fight and all of you. Me praying [for his downfall] — trust me, I don’t think about Francis that much. You guys ask me the question about the PFL and I responded. Other than that, the only one who’s praying for his demise is probably the PFL because they signed a shitty contract with a guy that doesn’t deliver any numbers and ticket sales or pay-per-views. They’ve got to keep paying this guy for however long and good for him. Not good for them.”
As much as White maintained that he absolutely wanted to release Ngannou from the UFC roster, there’s no denying that he bounced back from those losses and eventually won the heavyweight title. Ngannou’s run with the UFC ended after six straight wins including victories over four ex-champions.
But White says the issues he had with Ngannou had nothing to do with his talent as a fighter but rather personal problems between them that spiraled out of control. While he didn’t reveal the nature of their fallout, White explained that his relationship with Ngannou was never the same again.
“Someday, I’ll tell you the story. I was all about Francis in the beginning and then I found out who Francis was,” White said. “I told the two guys who asked me not to cut Francis when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. Believe me, I have no sleepless nights over Francis leaving.
“I didn’t like Francis as a person. It wasn’t a guy I wanted to do business with. My boys were telling me he’s misunderstood. I told them when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. It wasn’t about him becoming heavyweight champion of the world. Francis isn’t a good guy. He plays the good guy. ‘I don’t understand the language’ so he seems like he’s a nice guy. He’s not, and he’s just not a guy I wanted to be in business with, period. End of story. Whether he became the champion or not.”
Ngannou obviously left in free agency before booking a pair of boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua before finally making his PFL debut with a win over Renan Ferreira.
He remains under contract with the PFL but has also hinted at a potential return to boxing in the future.
No matter where he goes next, White promises there’s no word where he ever gets back in business with Ngannou again.
“We won’t be. We’ll never be in business together,” White said. “You can tell. We don’t like each other. This goes back to before the first Stipe fight. He pulled some shit before the first Stipe fight, and I said I’m done with this guy and then Stipe beat the shit out of him. Great night. We never had a relationship after that.”
It’s safe to say that White won’t be bending over backwards to present Ngannou with any opportunities and that includes a potential fight against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
While that’s a matchup that White desperately wanted to see once upon a time, that’s no longer and option and if Jones is going to fight anybody after he faces Miocic at UFC 309, it certainly won’t be Ngannou.
“He didn’t want that fight,” White said about Ngannou facing Jones. “He could have stayed and took that fight. He didn’t want that fight. Tom Aspinall deserves that fight.”
Welcome to r/mma's post-event discussion of UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, United Arab Emirates!
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There’s a good reason why Robert Whittaker tapped out just a split second after Khamzat Chimaev applied a devastating face crank end their fight at UFC 308.
Following the pay-per-view broadcast, Daniel Cormier showed off a gruesome photo that Whittaker sent him showing off the damage done from Chimaev’s jaw-crushing submission.
“Khamzat Chimaev broke his tooth,” Cormier said about the photo. “Literally dislocated his jaw in a matter of two seconds. It was unbelievable.”
(Warning: UFC 308 photo below is pretty graphic.)
Chimaev’s finish is the first time that Whittaker has ever been submitted in the UFC.
It was a dominant performance from start to finish as Chimaev landed a takedown just seconds into the opening round and he never gave Whittaker a second to breathe. Chimaev was dominant but not impatient as he continued to ensure he maintained control over Whittaker as he did his best to scramble free and get back to his feet.
Again and again, Chimaev kept pulling him back down to the ground while looking to advance his position.
When he finally had full control on Whittaker’s back, Chimaev quickly secured his arms around the former champion’s face to lock up the submission. Chimaev tightened his grip and Whittaker immediately tapped out.
Whittaker apparently told Chimaev in the cage that he suffered a dislocated jaw but it wasn’t until after he got backstage that the full damage was revealed. Obviously, Whittaker will be headed for oral surgery thanks to the nasty submission applied by Chimaev.
The win moved Chiamev to 14-0 in his career and 8-0 in the UFC as he takes another step towards a potential title fight in the middleweight division.
UFC 308 headliner Ilia Topuria, who fights Max Holloway this Saturday. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 308 results, live streaming updates for “Topuria vs. Holloway”-led pay-per-view (PPV) TODAY (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) on ESPN+.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brings us UFC 308TODAY (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024), streaming LIVE on ESPN+ PPV from inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. UFC 308’s pay-per-view (PPV) main event is a can’t miss match-up with Featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, taking on the BMF — and former Featherweight kingpin — Max Holloway. This one is likely to get spicy (like some of the interviews between these two lately).
UFC 308’s PPV co-main event sees the return of the mercurial Khamzat Chimaev. He will fight Robert Whittaker in a make-up date from a fight that was supposed to happen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The winner of this 185-pound showdown will almost certainly be thrust toward the front of the Middleweight line and be set for the winner of Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland (or will it?).
The stacked PPV main card also has Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige, Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic and Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan.
There’s plenty to get excited about on UFC 308’s “Prelims”, too.
Those are headlined by Geoff Neal versus ex-UFC Lightweight champion,Rafael dos Anjos. The undercard also features rising talentFarid Basharatvs. Victor Hugo and brutal knockout artist Brunno Fereira vs. Abus Magomedov. You can checkout everything that happened on UFC 308’s “Prelims” undercard right here.
UFC 308 START TIME AND DATE
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 308 fight card below, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard bouts, which air at 10 a.m. ET. That’s followed by the UFC 308’s PPV main card, which will start at 2 p.m ET on ESPN+ PPV.
Keep in mind that we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps and post-fight analysis following “Topuria vs. Holloway.” Without further delay, see below for the updated UFC 308 results. (Note: This will go from the top down; therefore, the newest information will at the top of the stream).
UFC 308 QUICK RESULTS
145 lbs.: Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway 185 lbs.: Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev 205 lbs.: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic — Ankalaev def. Rakic via unanimous decision (29-28, 39-28, 29-28) 145 lbs.: Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy —Murphy def. Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) 185 lbs.: Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan — Magomedov def. Petrosyan via TKO (double back fists), round 2 (4:52) — HIGHLIGHTS! 205 lbs.: Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira — Aslan def. Cerqueira via TKO (punches), round 1 (0:51) 170 lbs.: Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos — Neal def. Dos Anjos via TKO (injury), round 1 (1:30) 160 lbs.: Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki — Rebecki def. Orolbai via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) 185 lbs.: Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira — Magomedov def. Ferreira via submission (arm triangle), round 3 (3:14) 265 lbs.: Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Chris Barnett — Nzechukwu def. Barnett via TKO (punches and knee), round 1 (4:29) 145 lbs.: Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo — Basharat def. Hugo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) 185 lbs.: Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva — Naurdiev def. SIlva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) 170 lbs.: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Carlos Leal — Fakhretdinov def. Leal by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
UFC 308 PPV MAIN CARD PLAY-BY-PLAY UPDATES
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesThe Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates hosts UFC 308.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 308: “Topuria vs. Holloway” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
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