On Saturday, Oct. 26, the UFC will be at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway. 

The card will feature 12 fights, including a pivotal featherweight title fight and a crucial No. 1 contender fight. 

In the main card, the UFC featherweight championship is up for grabs, as Ilia “El Matador” Topuria (15-0) will make the first defense of his featherweight championship belt against former UFC featherweight champion and current BMF title holder, Max “Blessed” Holloway (26-7). 

This will be Toupria’s first fight after his brutal knockout of former champion Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February. Not only is Toupria defending his title, but he’s also defending his undefeated streak on Saturday. Toupria has 15 victories in his MMA career, with five wins via KO and eight wins by submission. Holloway, his opponent, has been in this position before. The Hawaii native won the featherweight title back in 2017. However, since losing the title in 2019 to Volkanovski, Holloway has been grinding to get back a title opportunity. The 32-year-old is back in the spotlight for one reason only: his viral knockout of Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje at UFC 300 to win the BMF title with one second left on the clock in the fifth round. Holloway is looking to become a two-time UFC featherweight champion and wants to be the first person to give “El Matador” the first defeat of his career. 

In the co-main event of the evening, the UFC has rebooked the epic bout between former UFC middleweight champion Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker (27-7) and undefeated phenom Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev (13-0). 

The fight was supposed to happen on June 22 in Saudi Arabia, however, Chimaev had to withdraw from the contest due to an illness. Whittaker, 33, would then take on Ikram Aliskerov who was KO’ed by Chimaev earlier in his career, and he was able to make quick work of Aliskerov with a first-round KO. Whittaker has faced some of the best fighters in the world in his career like Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya and Yoel “The Solider of God” Romero twice, and has even fought the current champion, Dricus Du Plessis. Whittaker will lean towards his experience to show why he is one of the best middleweight fighters in the world. His opponent, the 33-year-old Chimaev has been nothing short of a dominant force since signing with the UFC. Chimaev will return to action on Saturday after a year out of the octagon, and with a win, he will be set up for a title fight in the near future. 

If you are a combat sports fan, then you can’t miss out on UFC 308.

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