UFC 308 – Page 17 – Syndication Server

Report: Alexander Volkov injury pushes Ciryl Gane rematch from UFC 308 to UFC 310

A heavyweight rematch that had been set for Abu Dhabi now will take place in a different desert.

According to a report from La Sueur, an [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] (38-10 MMA, 12-4 UFC) injury has pushed his fight with [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC)) from UFC 308 next month to UFC 310 in December. UFC officials have yet to formalize the change.

UFC 308 is set for Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Now the big men will throw down a second time Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Former Bellator champion Volkov has won four straight fights against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexandr Romanov, Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich to put himself firmly back into title contention. That’s a spot he was when he first fought Gane in mid-2021. In that headliner, Gane walked away with a unanimous decision win.

In the aftermath, Volkov rebounded with a win over Marcin Tybura, then was submitted by current interim champion Tom Aspinall before he went on his current 4-0 run. That run includes first-round knockouts of Rozenstruik and Romanov and a second-round submission of Tuivasa.

Gane beat Volkov in their first fight while he was on his ascension up the heavyweight ladder. It moved him to 9-0 and led to an interim heavyweight title fight with Derrick Lewis at UFC 265, which he won by third-round knockout. Gane dropped a decision in January 2022 to Francis Ngannou in a title unification bout, but it didn’t take him long to work his way back.

After a third-round bonus-winning knockout of Tuivasa, Gane got another title shot when he fought Jon Jones for the belt left vacant by Ngannou’s move to the PFL. But Jones submitted him in about two minutes to become champion, and put Gane back in the pack.

A year ago, Gane bounced back with a bonus-winning knockout of Sergei Spivac in front of his home fans in Paris, and that set up the crucial fight with Volkov.

With the change, the UFC 308 lineup now includes:

Champ Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan
Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Geoff Neal
Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos
Brunno Ferreira vs. Abus Magomedov
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo
Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva
Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Are there UFC fights tonight? Here’s the promotion’s upcoming schedule after UFC 306 at Sphere

Missing out on UFC action this Saturday? Check out the promotion’s upcoming schedule, which includes events in Paris and Abu Dhabi.

Sometimes, the UFC and the fans need a break from the hectic schedule of fights.

The UFC’s last event was UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas. Noche UFC, the visual masterpiece that was, thrilled fans in attendance and at home with a breathtaking journey throughout the “love letter to Mexico” that saw two titles change hands.

Are there UFC fights tonight?

No, the UFC is not hosting an event on Sept. 21, 2024. The promotion takes one week off as it gears up for nine consecutive weeks of action worldwide.

Check out the promotion’s upcoming schedule for the remainder of September through October:

Sept. 28 – UFC Fight Night 243: Moicano vs. Saint Denis

Location: Paris, France
Venue: Accor Arena
Broadcast: ESPN+

Current UFC Fight Night 243 lineup:

Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint Denis
Brendan Allen vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Joanderson Brito vs. William Gomis
Bryan Battle vs. Kevin Jousset
Morgan Charriere vs. Gabriel Miranda
Matt Frevola vs. Fares Ziam
Ion Cutelaba vs. Ivan Erslan
Da Woon Jung vs. Oumar Sy
Ludovit Klein vs. Roosevelt Roberts
Ailin Perez vs. Darya Zheleznyakova
Taylor Lapilus vs. Vince Morales
Victor Altamirano vs. Daniel Barez
Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Nora Cornolle
Chris Duncan vs. Bolaji Oki

Oct. 5 – UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Venue: Delta Center
Broadcast: ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+

Current UFC 307 lineup:

Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree – for light heavyweight title
Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Peña – for women’s bantamweight title
Movsar Evloev vs. opponent TBA
Kayla Harrison vs. Ketlen Vieira
Roman Dolidze vs. Kevin Holland
Joaquin Buckley vs. Stephen Thompson
Alexander Hernandez vs. Austin Hubbard
Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Pennington
Jose Aldo vs. Mario Bautista
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ryan Spann
Mauricio Ruffy vs. opponent TBA
Iasmin Lucindo vs. Marina Rodriguez
Court McGee vs. Tim Means
Cesar Almeida vs. Ihor Potieria

Oct. 12 – UFC Fight Night 244: Royval vs. Taira

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: UFC Apex
Broadcast: ESPN+

Current UFC Fight Night 244 lineup:

Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
JunYong Park vs. Brad Tavares
Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia
Cory McKenna vs. Polyana Viana
Alex Morono vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Josh Fremd
Jared Gooden vs. Chidi Njokuani
Terrance McKinney vs. opponent TBA
Ramazonbek Temirov vs. CJ Vergara
Jonathan Pearce vs. Pat Sabatini
Themba Gorimbo vs. Niko Price
Chris Barnett vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
Dan Argueta vs. Cody Haddon
Clayton Carpenter vs. Lucas Rocha

Oct. 19 – UFC Fight Night 245: Pereira vs. Hernandez

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: UFC Apex
Broadcast: ESPN+

Current UFC Fight Night 245 Lineup:

Michel Pereira vs. Anthony Hernandez
Asu Almabayev vs. Matheus Nicolau
Rob Font vs. Kyler Phillips
Brad Katona vs. Jean Matsumoto
Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda
Robelis Despaigne vs. Austen Lane
Charles Johnson vs. Su Mudaerji
Jessica Penne vs. Elise Reed
Jake Hadley vs. Brady Hiestand
Alice Ardelean vs. opponent TBA
Joselyne Edwards vs. Tamires Vidal

Oct. 26 – UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway

Location: Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
Venue: Etihad Arena
Broadcast: ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN+

Current UFC 308 lineup:

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan
Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Geoff Neal
Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos
Brunno Ferreira vs. Abus Magomedov
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo
Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva
Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

Upcoming Dana White’s Contender Series events

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 03: A general view of the Octagon prior to Dana White’s Contender Series season eight, week four at UFC APEX on September 3, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

If you want to see potential stars of the future, Dana White’s Contender Series continues into October, showcasing regional hopefuls fighting to earn a UFC contract.

Each event takes place on Tuesdays at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.

UFC 308 adds Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos

One of the deepest UFC cards of 2024 just got deeper.

UFC 308 continues to deepen.

The most recent addition is a three-round bantamweight bout. [autotag]Said Nurmagomedov[/autotag] will take on [autotag]Daniel Santos[/autotag] at the Oct. 26 pay-per-view event at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, the promotion recently announced.

Nurmagomedov (18-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will return almost exactly one year to the date from his previous fight. His most recent appearance was a 73-second submission win over Muin Gafurov on Oct. 21, 2023. The victory moved him to 4-1 in his most recent five.

Santos (11-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) aims to extend his winning streak to three after consecutive victories against John Castaneda and Johnny Munoz.

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1836375366983635237

With the addition, the UFC 308 fight card includes:

Champion Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan
Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Geoff Neal
Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira
Brunno Ferreira vs. Abus Magomedov
Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki
Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Dan Ige feels confident after Diego Lopes ‘made it look easy’ vs. Brian Ortega at UFC 306

Watching Diego Lopes dominate Brian Ortega gave Dan Ige a better gauge of where he stands in the UFC featherweight division.

Watching [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] dominate [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] gave [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] a better gauge of where he stands in the UFC featherweight division.

Lopes (26-6 MMA, 5-1 UFC) battered former title challenger Ortega this past Saturday at UFC 306 to emerge as a title contender. Prior to that, Lopes was tested in a unanimous decision win over Ige, who stepped in on just hours’ notice at UFC 303 in June.

“I thought he made it look easy,” Ige told Middle Easy on Lopes’ win over Ortega. “Nothing’s easy, but the way he went out there, he hurt Brian early. Anyone could say, ‘Yeah, he could’ve finished him,’ but he took a risk. I think he wanted to make a point. I think he wanted to try to submit him just to prove a point.

“But that cost him and then he had to go through a three-round fight. But, for the most part, he dominated. He looked really good in every aspect of the standup and the grappling, and, yeah, he’s a hard hitter, man. I felt his power when I was in there with him.”

Ige (18-8 MMA, 10-7 UFC) will look to rebound when he meets undefeated rising contender Lerone Murphy (14-0-1 MMA, 6-0-1 UFC) Oct. 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Although he’s coming off a loss to Lopes, he takes solace in knowing he can compete well with the top contenders in the division.

“But if anything, it just gives me more confidence,” Ige said of Lopes. “He’s No. 3 now and to be able to fight a guy like that on short notice, literally three hours’ notice and not actually game plan for someone like that and still have moments in the fight, it just gives me confidence in anything else.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Max Holloway says UFC was ‘shelling’ Ilia Topuria away from him

Max Holloway thinks the UFC purposely avoided matching him up with Ilia Topuria until now.

[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] thinks the UFC purposely avoided matching him up with [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] until now.

Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) challenges featherweight champion Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the UFC 308 main event Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria defeated Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett to earn his title shot against then-champion Alexander Volkanovski, whom he knocked out to claim the belt at UFC 298. Meanwhile, Holloway knocked off top contenders Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez and Arnold Allen.

Holloway believes the UFC was protecting Topuria from him.

“A lot of people are giving Ilia heat for the strength of his schedule that he had to the title fight, but he did what he was supposed to do. He won,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel.

“He beat a guy (Volkanovski) that I had three times to beat, and he did it. He had the shot, but I believe that the UFC made me fight every other contender at ’45 for a reason. We’re here now, and I’m going to prove, come Oct. 26, why the UFC was shelling him away from me.”

Holloway defended his featherweight title three times until he ran into Volkanovski. After three losses to Volkanovski, many thought Holloway would never be in the title picture again.

“Having the career I had of being at ’45 for forever, I got to fight the old generation guys, and now Ilia is considered one of the new generation guys,” Holloway said. “I’m excited to go out there and show that I’m still here. I’m still a part of this new generation. I’m only 32. I turn 33 in December. Sky’s the limit.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Max Holloway questions Ilia Topuria’s fight IQ ahead of UFC 308: ‘Work on your brain, my guy’

“The guy is writing checks right now that his body might not be able to cash,” Max Holloway said of Ilia Topuria before UFC 308.

[autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] warns UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] about brawling with him.

Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) challenges Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the UFC 308 main event Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Holloway earned his title shot after knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 to claim the BMF belt in April. In the final seconds of the fight, Holloway pointed to the center of the octagon and lured Gaethje into a “Rock’em, Sock’em Robots” type of exchange, which led to an iconic knockout.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Topuria said if Holloway brought that energy to the beginning of the fight, it would lead to his demise. He also predicted that he’d be the first to knock him out.

“I saw an interview of him saying that: ‘Bring the last 10 seconds to the first 10 seconds of the fight,’ which is his fight IQ might not be there,” Holloway told ESPN. “His athleticism and his power and strength is there, but (he) might be lacking a little bit in fight IQ. So, after saying that, I was like, ‘Brother, you’ve got to go work on your brain, my guy.’

“I mean, there’s reasons, there are opportunities, there are chances you do that kind of stuff. We’ll see what happens. If he does it, how can I step down from that? That’ll be a fun one. I never saw him even have a moment like that with anybody yet. So to do it against a guy who loves to do that, we’ll see. I’m excited he says that kind of stuff.”

Topuria has made bold claims, such as calling Holloway an easy matchup and that he’d beat Holloway and ex-champ Sean O’Malley on the same night.

Holloway dismisses the notion that “El Matador” is under his skin.

“No, why? What did I say, or what did I do to show that he’s under my skin? That’s news to me,” Holloway said. “That’s funny. Nobody can really get under my skin, bro. If we weren’t fighting and we didn’t have a fight booked, I’d be kind of annoyed just because we don’t have a fight booked.

“But at the end of the day, we’re booked, Oct. 26. I get to punch you in the face, kick you, hit you. I get to fight you. Why would I be mad about whatever he’s doing? The guy is writing checks right now that his body might not be able to cash. The greatest thing ever is that we get to find out Oct. 26.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Robert Whittaker’s manager claims Sean Strickland turned down UFC 305 fight

According to Robert Whittaker’s manager, the initial plan was to have him fight Sean Strickland.

According to [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag]’s manager, the initial plan was to have him fight [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag].

Whittaker’s manager, Titus Day, said the UFC approached Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) with another fight right after he knocked out Ikram Aliskerov at UFC on ABC 6 in June. Day said the name they offered was Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) at UFC 305 in Perth, but Strickland rejected the offer.

After rebounding from his title loss to Dricus Du Plessis with a win over Paulo Costa, Strickland made it clear that he doesn’t intend on fighting again unless it’s for the title. With Strickland allegedly turning down Whittaker, “The Reaper” was rebooked against Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the UFC 308 co-main event Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.

“Sean’s obviously taking a very different strategy just sitting there and waiting,” Day told Submission Radio. “He’s probably got a legitimate call for the title, but Rob wants to fight. That’s how he makes a living. Straight after the last fight in in Riyadh, they said to us straight away, ‘Does Rob want to fight?’ Like literally on the day. ‘Does Rob want to fight Sean in Perth?’ And we said yeah, sure, absolutely. And apparently he said no. So yeah, that was it.

“Then we knew there was going to be an Abu Dhabi card coming up. Rob loves fighting there and so he just said, ‘Yeah, I want to fight on that Abu Dhabi card.’ They said, ‘Would you fight Khamzat again?’ He said, ‘Yup, for sure.”

If Whittaker gets past Chimaev, he will be in a two-man race with Strickland for a rematch against middleweight champion Du Plessis. Day isn’t sure if Whittaker would be Du Plessis’ next title defense but thinks a title fight should undeniably be next.

“It’s difficult to know what the UFC is thinking or what they’re going to do, but I know they like fighters that are active,” Day said. “They like fighters that don’t say no. They don’t like fighters that sit around and wait.

“So, I think if Rob goes out and has a any sort of win against Khamzat – particularly if it’s impressive his next fight will be for the title. Whether they slip in a Strickland fight in the meantime, I’m not sure. I doubt it.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Tim Welch: ‘Flat-footed’ Ilia Topuria a more favorable matchup for Sean O’Malley than Max Holloway

UFC champ Sean O’Malley’s coach would rather he fights Ilia Topuria than Max Holloway in a move to featherweight.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s coach would rather he fought [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] than [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] in a move up to featherweight.

Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) defends his 145-pound title against Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) in the UFC 308 headliner Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

O’Malley’s head coach, Welch, praised Topuria, but after watching clips of his fights, he sees paths to victory for Holloway.

“I watched Topuria vs. Bryce Mitchell again, and he’s so f*cking good. His shoulders are so high, he’s so good at coming close,” Welch said on his YouTube channel. “If you throw a punch, and you’re not bringing it back to your face, he’s so good at counter punching.

“I mean, he’s pretty flat-footed, and he’s pretty stationary, and he is not the tallest guy. I would be zero percent surprised if Max Holloway came out, found his range, got started first, made Topuria miss a lot, and Max got it done.”

O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defends his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

If “The Suga Show” can get past Dvalishvili, he expressed interest in moving up to featherweight to challenge Topuria. Welch likes how longer and rangier O’Malley matches up against “El Matador.”

“I just think it’s a – people are like, ‘You f*cking idiot.’ I’m like, ‘It’s a winnable fight,'” Welch said of Topuria. “I just truly do believe it is.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandr Rakic: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC 308 fight

Magomed Ankalaev is heavily favored heading into his UFC 308 fight with Aleksandr Rakic.

A pivotal matchup of top-five light heavyweights will go down at UFC 308 when [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] and [autotag]Aleksandr Rakic[/autotag] meet inside the octagon.

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandr Rakic preview

Since losing his UFC debut to Paul Craig in 2018 with one second left in the third round, Ankalaev (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC), who’s No. 2 in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings, has gone unbeaten in 11 fights. His only blemish is a split draw vs. Jan Blachowicz for the then-vacant 205-pound title in late 2022. He’s coming off a Performance of the Night knockout in a rematch with Johnny Walker to open the year in January. While that seemingly should’ve secured a title shot, the opportunity went to No. 8 Khalil Rountree.

Rakic, ranked No. 5, is badly in need of a rebound. After back-to-back wins over former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, he’s experienced consecutive TKO losses to former champs Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka, the most recent of which came in April. It’s the first two-fight skid of his career.

Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandr Rakic odds

Ankalaev will enter UFC 308 as a heavy favorite, with FanDuel listing him -310 and Rakic a +230 underdog.

How to watch Magomed Ankalev vs. Aleksandr at UFC 308

When: Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
Where: Etihad Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
Broadcast/streaming: ESPN+ pay-per-view

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.