If he can hand Khamzat Chimaev his first loss, former UFC champ Robert Whittaker believes that puts him in a class all his own.
[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] will look to cement himself as the top middleweight at UFC 308.
Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) takes on [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) on Oct. 26 at UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Whittaker knows Chimaev will test his grappling, and he has been training hard for that. However, this isn’t the first time Whittaker has prepped for a strong grappler as he fought and beat Yoel Romero twice and Ronaldo Souza.
If he can hand Chimaev the first loss of his career, Whittaker thinks that will separate him from the pack at 185 pounds.
“You can bet your bottom dollar that I am training like an animal right now on the mats,” Whittaker said on his “MMArcade Podcast.” “I am sweating and bleeding and leaving it all there in preparation for this fight, and I’m coming into this fight to leave it all there.
“I don’t expect him to get tired or anything else. I expect him to come out aggressive and to be super scary in the wrestling and be very strong. I just think I’ve been in those waters before. I know how to tread. I’m good in there. I am the best middleweight in the world. Beating him will prove that, and I look forward to it.”
Whittaker’s lone losses at middleweight have come to former champion Israel Adesanya and current champ Dricus Du Plessis.
[lawrence-related id=2767100,2761131,2761006]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Shara Magomedov will get his wish of fighting at UFC 308, but not against his desired opponent.
[autotag]Shara Magomedov[/autotag] will get his wish of fighting at UFC 308, but not against his desired opponent.
Magomedov (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Armen Petrosyan[/autotag] (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout Oct. 26 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UFC officials announced Monday morning. Armenia MMA was first to report the news.
Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) meets [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) in a potential No. 1 contender bout Oct. 26 in the UFC 308 co-main event in Abu Dhabi. Borralho thinks Chimaev’s grappling will be too much for the former champion.
“We spent some time in Sweden with him, training with him for his training camp against Nate Diaz, the fight that never happened,” Borralho told Submission Radio. “But I was there training with him everyday, was his main sparring partner for this camp. I think it’s a very tough fight for Whittaker because Khamzat is a very great, great wrestler. And there’s one thing about Khamzat that people don’t realize too much, like they don’t know what kind of level to expect from him. They know by seeing, but when you feel it, I think it’s a little bit different. This kind of level of wrestling, of grappling. The best wrestler in the division I think is Khamzat, and we saw how he dominated Kamaru Usman. That is a great, great wrestler that fought like Demian Maia and didn’t get dominated the way that he was by Khamzat.
“So, definitely a lot of courage of Whittaker, but I think if he did that, he has something in his mind to this fight. I think he thinks that Khamzat is going to get tired or something like that. But let’s see how good are the training partners of Whittaker that are going to mimic Khamzat’s style. I think it all depends on that, that Whittaker is used to this level of grappling when it comes about his training camp. So, he won’t feel that much difference when the real fight starts. So, I think this fight goes to Khamzat. I think Khamzat is going to like dominate him in the wrestling, in the ground. But Whittaker was a champion, though, so cannot doubt our champion. So, definitely is a fun fight. I’m willing to see this fight for sure.”
Borralho lauded Chimaev for his work ethic – something he thinks is to his detriment at times.
“I didn’t see any other guy in my life that trains as much as he trains, maybe that’s why sometimes he kills his body and doesn’t make it to the fights,” Borralho said. “But, definitely a guy that (out)-trains everyone in the room. There was one time that we did five-round sparring. After his sparring was done he did like a three or four round pads, and then after that he did like a 30-minute round. And I was like, what the f*ck is this guy doing?
“Like why he needs that sh*t? I think he needs that. He was used to it. That’s the only way that he knows how to train properly, to be confident or something like that. So, definitely a guy that trains a lot. He’s very intense on sparring and all the sessions and all this stuff. He was very hard to spar with, but definitely a moment in my career that I developed a lot. I learned a lot from him, from his team.”
[lawrence-related id=2763005,2761131,2761006]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Ilia Topuria thinks it would be a bad career move for Alexander Volkanovski to take the backup role at UFC 308.
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] doesn’t think it’s a good idea for [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] to offer his services as the backup fighter for the UFC 308 main event.
After Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) claimed the featherweight title with a second-round knockout at UFC 298 in February, Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) has made it clear he’s coming to get the belt back in any way he can. He’s taken some time off from competition after being stopped by Topuria and Islam Makhachev just four months prior.
In the meantime, the promotion set up a championship bout between Topuria and Max Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) for the Oct. 26 headliner at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Volkanovski is struggling to resist the urge to get back in the octagon and recently revealed he will travel to witness the matchup in person, and would be willing to be the official backup.
“I reckon I’ll be there, you know what I mean?” Volkanovski said during a fan Q&A earlier this month in Australia. “I’m usually hanging around and pestering my managers and the matchmakers. I’m always hanging around. You can’t get rid of me. I’ll be there.”
Topuria said it would ultimately be the UFC’s call as to whether Volkanovski is given the backup designation. But in his opinion, it would be smarter to stick to the plan of taking a break. Topuria thinks Volkanovski truly does need that recovery time.
“Listen, I don’t know (if that’s a good idea),” Topuria said. “He wants to get knocked out every year. Twice, maybe someone has to give him good advice. He needs some rest. I’m telling you, he needs some rest. His head at least.”
If Topuria emerged victorious from UFC 308, a rematch with Volkanovski is seemingly the most logical move for the division. That’s what Volkanovski said he is expecting. However, he doesn’t think Topuria is the man he’ll be running things back with.
Volkanovski is predicting Holloway to take the strap at UFC 308, and that would set up an ultra-rare situation where Volkanovski is 3-0 in head-to-head matchups with “Blessed,” but would enter the fourth meeting as the challenger.
“Max has obviously proven himself time and time again. I think he’s going to be a hard man to beat,” Volkanovski said. “We want the winner of that fight. If I had to pick it, probably is (Holloway), so I think we might have to go a damn fourth time. So we’ll see how that goes. BMF is going to be on the line this time, too, so that’s going to keep things interesting.”
Topuria is unsurprisingly dismissive of Volkanovski’s analysis and has boldly predicted the belt will be staying with him after he becomes the first to knock out Holloway.
If, for any reason, the Hawaiian can’t make it to fight night, though, and Volkanovski is tabbed as the backup or replacement, then Topuria said he won’t hesitate to accept the switch.
“My business and my job is to fight, no matter who is in front of me,” Topuria said. “I’m the world champion. I had my preferences before that I wanted to fight people who was next to me in the rankings, to get my chance to fight for the title as soon as possible. But now, when I’m the world champion, I don’t care. Give me a name. Give me a place. I’m going to give you a masterpiece of mixed martial arts.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Aljamain Sterling sees cardio as a big question mark in UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria’s game.
[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] sees cardio as a big question mark in UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag]’s game.
Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) makes his first title defense against [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] (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+).
Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round to claim the title at UFC 298. Sterling thinks Volkanovski had early success before getting caught.
“Topuria is a savage, the guy can crack, but he struggled with Volkanovski in the first round,” Sterling said on “Verse Us with Eric Nicksick“. “And if Volk stuck to his Ps and Qs, just doing what he was doing that helped him win the first round – long jab, inside leg kick, use your footwork, have Topuria swinging at you and missing, or just barely grazing you, but getting out of the way and landing the better shots. He was starting to wear it on his face. His eye, his nose, busted him up.
“Then he tries to exchange with Topuria on the cage and gets knocked out. Enter Max Holloway: great footwork, high guard, long punches. He has a shorter reach than Volkanovski, but his footwork is what helps him so much in his fights, and he’s got great durability. So if he gets back to his kicking game and stays in his range – Topuria, I think, is 5’6,” maybe 5’7.” Max has a shorter reach for a guy at 145 pounds. I think it’s like 67, 68 (inches). Topuria’s got great grappling, but Max has great takedown defense.”
Holloway, who’s never been knocked out, is known for his durability. He has prevailed in numerous five-round wars, but Sterling wonders if Topuria could do the same if he’s dragged to deep waters.
“If Max could stay on his bike and touch him from the outside, it would be very interesting to see what happens in the later rounds,” Sterling said. “We haven’t seen Topuria exhausted or tired yet. In Round 5 with Josh Emmett, he was in the driver’s seat the whole time, but what happens if you could set a little fatigue in him?
“Him having some failed takedown attempts, or even if he gets the takedowns and Max can get back up, it makes the fight very interesting where he starts to use up a lot more energy than expected. He’s always in your face with those spinning back kicks. If Max gets back to the old-school Max, it’s a very intriguing fight.”
Joe Rogan was in awe watching UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria crack pads in training.
[autotag]Joe Rogan[/autotag] was in awe watching UFC featherweight champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] crack pads.
Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) makes his first title defense against Max 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+).
“One of the things that is phenomenal about him is his technique,” Rogan said on a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “His technique is perfect. There’s no fat in his technique. There’s no wasted movements, so when an opportunity presents itself, everything is so fast because the technique is so streamlined.
“Look at how he hits the pads, and when you watch how he hits pads – (Floyd) Mayweather is a great example of that, as well. Some of the best hands in the sport. Current UFC featherweight champion and knocked out (Alexander) Volkanovski, who is maybe the greatest of all time.”
Rogan watched a video of Topuria hitting pads, specifically highlighting his speed.
“See how he’s moving his head when guy throws punches? Slipping just slightly? The speed, man,” Rogan said. “The f*cking speed of that. Look at the hand speed. F*cking incredible. If you know how difficult that is to do and do it that fast. I mean, these are like five, six punches a second and just phenomenal technique.”
[lawrence-related id=2765235,2765170,2765216]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Max Holloway intends to one-up his incredible performance and knockout at UFC 308 when he challenges Ilia Topuria at at UFC 308.
Former featherweight champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] has something special in store for UFC 308.
Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) challenges featherweight champion [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the Oct. 26 main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Holloway earned his shot after scoring an iconic knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 to claim the BMF title in April. He plans to put on another memorable performance vs. Topuria.
“Every fight camp, it’s me vs. me,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel. “I’ve got to go out there and outdo myself every fight camp, you know? Everybody thought UFC 300 was amazing. Wait until they get to see the outcome of UFC 308. It’s going to be a good one.”
In his past 21 featherweight fights, Holloway has lost only to Alexander Volkanovski. But having lost to Volkanovski three times, many ruled him out of the featherweight title picture.
Holloway rebounded from his trilogy loss to Volkanovski with wins over Arnold Allen, Chan Sung Jung, and Gaethje. In the meantime, Volkanovski was knocked out by Topuria at UFC 298 in February, which set Holloway up for another opportunity at the title – something many doubted could happen.
“I’ve been going hard over the last few years trying to regain my throne,” Holloway said. “A lot of people laughed, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh come Oct. 26.”
[lawrence-related id=2765216,2765106,2760859]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
Surging lightweights Myktybek Orolbai and Mateusz Rebecki will throw down at UFC 308.
Surging lightweights will throw down at UFC 308 as [autotag]Myktybek Orolbai[/autotag] squares off against [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Two people with knowledge of the booking confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Full Violence was first to report the news.
After punching his ticket to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2022, Poland’s Rebecki (19-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) won his first three UFC fights, two by finish. However, the 31-year-old saw his 16-fight winning streak snapped when he ran into Diego Ferreira in May.
With the addition, the latest UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) lineup now includes:
Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
Ilia Topuria revealed he loves “the attitude that Diego Lopes brings,” and thinks a UFC title fight between them could happen soon.
The UFC featherweight division is poised for some potentially significant movement in the final quarter of 2024, and [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] is keeping his eyes on everything.
Ahead of Topuria’s (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) scheduled title defense against Max Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi, a pair of matchups featuring ranked contenders are set to unfold.
Former title challenger Brian Ortega (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will take on the red-hot [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] (24-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC 306 on Sept. 14, while undefeated Movsar Evloev (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) meets former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) at UFC 307 on Oct. 5.
It is widely expected that Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) will challenge the winner between Topuria and Holloway, but as the queue forms behind him, the reigning champion named Lopes as the most compelling name of the bunch.
“Of course, Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes (is the more likely title eliminator),” Topuria told MMA Junkie. “I love the attitude that Diego Lopes brings. He’s always respectful with me, so I like the attitude that he has with me. If he wins, maybe he’s the next one in the line.”
Topuria, 27, made it clear that he is not concerned about which name the UFC brings him. He is ready to clear out the division and said he would be ready to take on all comers with a victory over Holloway at UFC 308, which he has boldly predicted to end by first-round knockout in his favor.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Topuria said. “Maybe it’s Volkanovski. Maybe it’s Diego Lopes. Maybe it’s Brian Ortega. But I don’t care. It’s going to be worse for them when they’re going to get the call and they’re going to notice that they’re going to have to face me. It’s going to be a difficult night for them.”
Chael Sonnen warns everyone not to discredit Aleksandar Rakic against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 308.
[autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] is warning everyone not to discredit [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag].
Rakic (14-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) takes on streaking top contender [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] (19-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) in a pivotal light heavyweight clash Oct. 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Ankalaev was passed up for a title shot after the promotion paired light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) with Khalil Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the UFC 307 headliner Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City. Sonnen thinks Rakic is more than capable of stealing Ankalaev’s thunder, even though he’s coming off a knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 300.
“You’ve got Ankalaev, clearly the No. 1 contender, at least according to you guys,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “And you know what? I do have a little bit of a problem with that. It’s not a huge problem, but I do have just a little one, which is Rakic is that damn good. You’ve got to understand: Rakic did not get a world title fight – well neither did Ankalaev, but Rakic did find himself in the next best thing.
“He’s in a No. 1 contender’s match. That is quite literally the next best thing that you could get to a title fight, and he found himself there coming off of a loss. As a matter of fact, he found himself there coming off of a stoppage loss. As a matter of fact, finding himself in this spot actually moves him in front of the guy that he suffered the loss to in Prochazka.”
Rakic had returned from an almost two year-long layoff due to injury when he faced Prochazka this past April. He was able to wobble Prochazka on numerous occasions but was ultimately overwhelmed and stopped. Sonnen thinks ring rust and cardio likely played a factor in his loss.
“I’m only telling you this because that’s how good Rakic is, and a lot of people have forgot,” Sonnen continued. “Rakic looked good the night he lost to Prochazka, but he looked like a guy who had been out for a minute of time. His conditioning wasn’t going to be right where he wants it, and there was no way to manufacture that.”
[lawrence-related id=2765072,2764748,2762511]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.