UFC 308 LIVE: Topuria defends title against Holloway in featherweight blockbuster

Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway clash in a highly-anticipated title fight tonight, headlining UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.

The unbeaten Topuria claimed the men’s featherweight belt in February, ending Alexander Volkanovski’s long title reign with a brutal knockout in round two.

In doing so, he achieved what Max Holloway could not accomplish in three fights; the Hawaiian lost the belt to Volkanovski in 2019 and failed to regain it in two rematches, losing all three bouts via decision.

However, Holloway tends to bounce back well, and his current winning streak peaked in April, when he dominated Justin Gaethje before faceplanting him in the very last second – securing the ‘Baddest Motherf*****’ belt with an all-time great KO.

Tonight’s main event is one of the most anticipated fights of the year, and the co-main event has also been long-awaited: Robert Whittaker, a former middleweight champ, takes on unbeaten, rising star Khamzat Chimaev – four months after the Russian withdrew from their match-up due to illness.

Follow live updates and results from the UFC 308 main card and prelims, below.

UFC 308 LIVE

• Ilia Topuria defends 145lb title against former champion Max Holloway

• Unbeaten middleweight Khamzat Chimaev faces ex-champ Robert Whittaker

• Chimaev, after his own health battles, opens up on young son’s struggles

• Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakic meet in crucial light-heavyweight fight

• Plus: Murphy vs Ige; Shara ‘Bullet’ vs Petrosyan; Neal vs Dos Anjos; and more

UFC 308 LIVE: Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Chris Barnett

16:44 , Alex Pattle

Heavyweights enter the cage now: Kennedy Nzechukwu and Chris Barnett.

These two have been through a lot in recent years. Barnett’s wife passed away, while Kennedy has been caring for his brother – who has autism – and his wife, who has ALS.

Can they both win, please?

UFC 308 LIVE: Farid Basharat vs Victor Hugo

16:36 , Alex Pattle

Round two

A knee cracks Hugo! He felt that. Basharat ups the pressure, as Hugo tries to recover.

Some dynamic striking exchanges in the middle of the Octagon, with Hugo seemingly lucid now.

Lots of stance-switching from Basharat. Some taunting from Hugo. He tags Basharat with two to three left hands – a combination of hooks and stiff jabs – and those had a clear effect.

Round three

Hugo with a spinning back kick, and it sends Basharat cascading back to the fence and down to the mat! Hugo tries to follow up with a flying knee, but it just misses…

Basharat with a tidy takedown, picking the ankle and driving Hugo down with the spare hand. He’s controlling Hugo by the fence, and now he moves into half-guard.

Hugo stands against the cage wall, but Basharat drives him down again. Hugo shakes him off, though, and the pair move into space.

Another takedown by Basharat, and he ends the round – and fight – on top.

Farid Basharat def. Victor Hugo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Justice after Hugo’s 10lb weight-miss?

UFC 308 LIVE: Farid Basharat vs Victor Hugo

16:23 , Alex Pattle

The prelims roll on. Next up: Farid Basharat vs Victor Hugo at featherweight. This bout was due to take place at bantamweight, but Hugo missed weight.

Round one

Both men stand orthodox. Hugo closes range, misses with an uppercut but lands a left hook. Basharat comes back with a right cross.

Basharat slips as he backs up to the fence, and Hugo clinches. Basharat reverses the position, and the pair separate. Hugo kicks low and hard.

Basharat eats an elbow, ouch. Hugo with a daring roll now, a variation on an Imanari, and he tries a leg lock! Basharat stays calm and gets his leg free.

He ends up in half-guard but chooses to back off. Hugo stands and leans back to evade a wheel kick attempt! Now Hugo tries a spinning back kick, but Basharat closes range and gets a body lock.

Another separation. Basharat shoots for a takedown, but again Hugo gets creative with a leg-lock attempt! Nothing doing before the buzzer, though.

UFC 308 LIVE: Ismail Naurdiev vs Bruno Silva

16:05 , Alex Pattle

Round three

Naurdiev gets a front headlock and puts his weight on Silva, landing a couple of knees to the top of his opponent’s head.

He lets go and lands a calf kick and jab. Again Naurdiev takes advantage of some slack movement from Silva, grabbing a body lock and forcing him to the fence.

Brutal one-two from Naurdiev. Silva is being far too passive, walking slowly along the cage wall.

We go to the scorecards, and – barring another robbery – this will go Naurdiev’s way.

Ismail Naurdiev def. Bruno Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

This time, the judges get it right (not that it was a hard one (then again, neither was the previous fight…)).

UFC 308 LIVE: Ismail Naurdiev vs Bruno Silva

15:58 , Alex Pattle

Round two

Silva swings and misses with a low kick. Naurdiev goes next, landing a hook to the body.

He then reacts quickly to get an ankle pick as Silva throws a leg kick – while Naurdiev was trying an overhand actually, so the Austrian did well to turn that into a kind of shove, aiding the ankle pick.

Again Naurdiev has Silva tied up against the fence and on the mat. Spiteful elbows from Naurdiev, but Silva shrimps free and stands.

Back into the open, and Naurdiev catches a standing guillotine… Silva stays calm and shucks him off, though.

Another very well-timed takedown by Naurdiev, again catching a kick and turning the defence into an ankle pick. Once more, he has Silva pinned against the fence.

Now Naurdiev is dragging him about. Credit to Silva, however: he’s able to escape and stand yet again. Still, he’s been largely listless tonight.

UFC 308 LIVE: Ismail Naurdiev vs Bruno Silva

15:52 , Alex Pattle

Next up, it’s middleweight action. Ismail Naurdiev faces Bruno Silva.

Round one

Naurdiev stands orthodox; Silva is southpaw. Two hard low kicks from Naurdiev, ouch – the smacks on those.

Silva retaliates with a low kick of his own, then he sees a front kick parried. Now Naurdiev clinches Silva and drives him to the fence.

Silva throws a lazy low kick and spins 360, and Naurdiev pounces! Wise move, lashing a body kick at Silva, whose complacency is punished.

Now Naurdiev grapples Silva against the fence again. He takes him down and laces up Silva’s legs. Silva is able to twist and stand, but he gives up the back in the process!

Naurdiev is off the ground, on Silva’s back, trying a rear naked choke… but no joy before the buzzer!

UFC 308 LIVE: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Carlos Leal

15:34 , Alex Pattle

Round three

Third and final round. Leal is sporting some redness around his nose, but his chin has held up to Rinat’s best offence in the striking.

Rinat is able to control Leal briefly, against the fence, but as in the previous two rounds, Leal eventually gets free.

Now it’s Leal with a takedown! He rolls under a hook and times it to perfection. Rinat gets to the fence and back to his feet, and the pair move back to the centre of the ring.

There, Leal eats three straight punches in a row, but he’s undeterred, landing a one-two in return.

Good sprawl now from Leal, resisting a takedown yet again. Rinat lands a few more good punches in the final seconds, and we’ll go to the scorecards.

A really fun opener.

Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

No two ways about it: horrid scoring. Those scores should all have gone the other way. If you’re a Robert Whittaker fan and think he goes the distance against Khamzat Chimaev tonight, worry about a Russian getting such a lucky decision in this first fight of the night.

UFC 308 LIVE: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Carlos Leal

15:28 , Alex Pattle

Round two

The striking has been quite sloppy from both men, but Leal continues to get the best of these back-and-forths.

Now Rinat gets his jab going, however. He eventually goes for another takedown, but it’s thwarted, and he eats a knee for his trouble!

Rinat holds Leal against the fence for some time, but Leal gets away eventually. Rinat closes range with a front kick, but Leal fires back with a one-two.

Again Leal counters a takedown attempt with a knee, before tagging Rinat with a couple of left hooks.

OH! But Rinat stumbles Leal slightly with an overhand right. Leal does well to stay composed, but he’s taken down in the final 15 seconds of the round.

UFC 308 LIVE: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs Carlos Leal

15:21 , Alex Pattle

The prelims begin with a welterweight bout between Rinat Fakhretdinov and Carlos Leal!

Round one

Both men stand orthodox. Rinat presses forward early. He feints an overhand and pulls off a double-leg takedown. The pair land near the fence, and Leal is able to use it to stand up.

Rinat holds Leal against the cage wall for a while, before they separate. Both men land punches in a laboured exchange, before Leal sprawls to halt a takedown attempt.

Rinat’s next effort is successful, but again Leal is back up quickly. This time he doesn’t need the fence to stand, but he’s forced back to the cage wall shortly thereafter.

The welterweights separate again, and Leal lands a hard left hook! Leal with some heavy leg kicks, too. Rinat lands a body kick. Leal with a left hand and a knee up the middle!

He defends another takedown. Rinat is sporting some bruising around his nose and left eye. He’s landing punches now, though! One more takedown defended by Leal, and that’s round one in the books.

UFC 308 LIVE: Robert Whittaker on the Chimaev twist and the performance of a lifetime

14:45 , Alex Pattle

Whittaker and Chimaev were due to clash in June, but the latter withdrew on short notice due to “violent” illness.

Whittaker went on to stop Ikram Aliskerov in round one, before speaking to The Independent about the entire episode.

Here’s our conversation with the Australian:

Robert Whittaker on the Khamzat Chimaev twist and the performance of a lifetime

UFC 308 LIVE: Khamzat Chimaev reveals one-year-old son’s health issues

14:30 , Alex Pattle

Khamzat Chimaev has opened up on the ‘difficulty’ of seeing his one-year-old son deal with health issues – a physical battle that the fighter knows all too well.

Chimaev is 13-0 in MMA with 11 finishes, and he stormed to 3-0 in the UFC with three fights in two months in 2020. That run led fans to predict that the Russian-born Swede would race to a title at welterweight or middleweight – his preferred divisions – but Chimaev’s career has been stop-start since.

The 30-year-old contracted Covid in December 2020 and has continued to battle lingering effects of the illness, fighting just four times in the…