The featherweight championship will be on the line at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
After much anticipation, [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) finally has a date for his first title defense, which will come against fan favorite and BMF titleholder [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) on the Oct. 26 card at Etihad Arena on Yas Island.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the news on Saturday (via X):
BIG NEWS FROM THE BOSS MAN 🚨#UFC308 https://t.co/BRP1P9bdMx
— UFC (@ufc) August 3, 2024
Topuria, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie featherweight rankings, captured the belt in February when he shocked longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski with a second-round knockout at UFC 298. The Spaniard has been nothing short of brash since winning the belt, calling his shots and making all sorts of bold statements bout his future greatness.
He’ll have to back all that up against No. 3-ranked Holloway, who comes into his opportunity to regain the 145-pound belt with a tremendous amount of momentum. “Blessed” is coming off a highlight-reel knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 in April, which captured him the BMF belt and an extra $600,000 in bonus money.
Holloway lost the featherweight title to Volkanovski in December 2019 and was unable to win it back in two rematch attempts. But now there is a new champion at the top of the heap, and Holloway will have the chance to get his strap back at the same venue where he put on a record-setting striking performance against Calvin Kattar in January 2021.
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The latest UFC 308 lineup now includes:
- Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
- Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
- Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
- Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy
- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Marcos Rogerio
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.