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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 308 start time, fight card, and TV schedule for the Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway event at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday is below.

The fight card is broken into two different parts and airs on multiple mediums. This post helps explain which fights are airing where and at which times.

The event kicks off with an eight-fight preliminary card 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+ and YouTube, headlined by a welterweight bout between Geoff Neal and Rafael dos Anjos.

Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai

Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Chris Barnett

Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo

Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva

Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Carlos Leal

Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

The card then heads to ESPN+ pay-per-view at 2 p.m. ET. A featherweight contest between UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria and former UFC champion Max Holloway will headline this portion of the card.

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

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Dana White remains firm in his stance on Francis Ngannou’s departure from the UFC, even after Ngannou’s recent return to MMA. In his comeback fight, the former UFC heavyweight champion secured a decisive finish over Renan Ferreira at PFL: Battle of the Giants.

Ngannou’s 2023 UFC exit was turbulent, as he vacated his heavyweight title to pursue free agency. Since then, he has taken on boxing giants Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in highly lucrative matchups.

At a Power Slap 9 post-event press conference on Thursday, White was asked to share his thoughts on Ngannou’s recent performance. He suggested that financial incentives were the main driver behind Ngannou’s recent career choices.

White’s Initial Plan to Cut Ngannou in 2018

White shared that he had considered releasing Ngannou after he suffered back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis in 2018.

“I was going to cut Francis when he lost two in a row,” White said. “Somebody around here begged me not to do it. It wouldn’t have mattered to me either way. There’s a much deeper story to this whole thing. He would’ve made more money if he’d stayed in the UFC. He didn’t want to fight Jon Jones. That’s a fact, my friend. We’re moving on.”

Continue Reading Dana White: I Was ‘Begged’ Not To Cut Francis Ngannou In 2018 at MMA News.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has UFC 308 results of the Topuria vs. Holloway fight card, live blogs for the entire main card, and more from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday afternoon.

In the main event, UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria will make his first title defense against former UFC champion Max Holloway. Topuria (15-0) has never tasted defeat in his pro career, while Holloway (26-7) has won four of his past five fights.

Khamzat Chimaev makes his long-awaited return against former UFC champion Robert Whittaker in the co-main event.

Check out the UFC 308 results below.

Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 2 p.m. ET)

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

Prelims (ESPN+ at 10 a.m. ET)

Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai

Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Chris Barnett

Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo

Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva

Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Carlos Leal

Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Victor Hugo grew up watching his father Marcio compete in full-contact fights and began training martial arts at 5 years of age, but quickly dropped jiu-jitsu to focus solely on striking practice. Two decades later, he’s now a UFC fighter looking for his first knockout inside the octagon.

Nicknamed “Striker” for his love of stand-up fighting, Hugo enters the UFC 308 cage to face undefeated Farid Basharat this Saturday in Abu Dhabi and wants to add the 9th knockout to his MMA record. Hugo won his UFC debut with a decision over Pedro Falcao, six months after tapping out Eduardo Torres on Dana White’s Contender Series.

“I’m by far the best fighter he’s ever faced,” Hugo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “He fought (Taylor Lapilus), a kickboxing champion with no ground game or takedown defense. If we’re talking striking, my nickname says it all. And I don’t even need to talk about my takedown defense. And I’m a black belt on the ground, brother. He’s never fought a black belt before.”

“This is a test for him, not for me,” he continued. “It’s a good fight for me. He has good striking, he’s fast, and he has good cardio, but my takedown defense is ridiculous. He won’t take me down like he has against other opponents. … He’s good, but he’s not a fantastic striker. His kicks are fast but that’s it. He’s never finished anyone, and I’ve knocked out a shitload of people, so there’s a good chance I knock him out as well.”

Hugo said “it’s always been my dream to fight vale tudo since I was a kid” after watching old tapes of Royce Gracie winning the first UFC events and Mirko Cro Cop dropping people left and right inside the PRIDE ring, and it’s special to now find himself standing on the same cage that has once welcomed such legends.

“I was such a big fan of Cro Cop,” Hugo said. “We had no access to information like we have today, so I used to go to [n internet cafe] and burn CDs and DVDs of his fights so I could watch it over and over and over again at home.”

Though Hugo claimed otherwise, Basharat does have stoppage wins on his record, with one knockout and six submissions across a dozen of professional MMA appearances, but the Brazilian isn’t amazed. A pro fighter since 2011, Hugo says “my calm makes others desperate.”

“All that time has gotten me ready for this,” Hugo said. “I see fighting as math. Many people are emotional, but I’m different. He has this single leg takedown? I’ll defend it 50 times in the gym. What are his flaw? Body shots? Ok, I’ll work a lot on my attacks to the body. When you’re calm and collected up there you can see everything your opponent is doing, and that makes them desperate.”

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