TOPURIA STOPS HOLLOWAY IN ROUND 3!
It looked like Holloway was having the better of the round but an explosive right hand changed the fight. It sent Holloway back against the Octagon and he was then hit him with a huge left hook which saw Holloway fall to the mat and more hammer blows followed until the referee jumped in.
TOPURIA-HOLLOWAY: ROUND 2
Holloway comes out and immediately lands a right hand flush. As the round goes on Topuria lands hooks in close to take control but Holloway started coming back the momentum in the final minute or so. He is still eating right hands though. A difficult round to call. A great fight though.
TOPURIA-HOLLOWAY: ROUND 1
Holloway with early jabs and kicks but Topuria landed a couple of jabs before lifting Holloway high and dropping him on the mat. As they get back up Topuria landed with a big right hand but Holloway took it and landed a nice one-two himself.
Topuria targets Holloway’s front leg to slow him down but as the round goes on Holloway is landing more, with his pinpoint jab which has reddened under Topuroa’s right eye. In the final moments of the round Topuria takes Holloway down but it is the challenger’s round.
IT’S TIME!!!
The unbeatable Ilia Topuria (15-0) takes on the indomitable will of Max Holloway (26-7).
HERE COMES TOPURIA!
The pride of Georgia and Spain. Sergio Ramos is outside the Octagon – on the day of the Clasicco no less – to watch the contest.
MAX HOLLOWAY MAKES HIS WAY TO OCTAGON
Waving the Hawaiian flag the fan favorite looks as happy to be here as ever.
THE MAIN EVENT IS NEXT…
HOW TO WATCH UFC 308: Topuria v Holloway
EE TV – Customers can purchase the event via their STB on channel 494.
Prime Video – Customers do not need to have a Prime or discovery+ subscription to access this event. You can find live and upcoming PPV events in the “Live and upcoming events” row on the Prime Video homepage and sports page, or by searching for a specific event title.
Virgin Media TV – Customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View events rail.
CHIMAEV WANTS A TITLE SHOT
And who can argue with him after that performance.
CHIMAEV SUBMITS WHITTAKER IN ROUND 1!
Chimaev makes Whittaker tap. What a dominant display! Chimaev races across the Octagon in the first seconds of the contest and takes his opponent down before attempting a rear-naked choke. He gets position on Whittaker’s back and briefly locks in a choke, before Whittaker gets up, but Chimaev keeps hold of him from the back. Eventually with a face crank putting pressure on Whittaker’s jaw, the New Zealander is forced to tap with just under 90 seconds left.
WHITTAKER-CHIMAEV IS NEXT…
This co-main event is well worthy of a top of the bill on another card.
The number three ranked middleweight in the world Robert Whittaker meets #13, the rising, Khamzat Chimaev.
ALEX STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM ME – ANKALAEV
He is a little pushed into sending the message, but Ankalaev made it clear he wants to fight Alex Pereira next.
ANKALAEV WINS ON POINTS!
Ankalaev wins 29-28 on all thre scorecards.
ANKALAEV-RAKIC: ROUND 3
It feels like Ankalaev has taken the fight out of Rakic. He continually closes the distance and lands another big left hook which leads to Rakic holding and prompting boos from the crowd. The stats suggest Rakic has landed the more significant strikes strangely and both raise their hands at the end of the contrst.
ANKALAEV-RAKIC: ROUND 2
Ankalalev’s body attack with front kicks and left hand seem to be having effect now. Rakic has noticeably slowed and Ankalaev lands with a right uppercut and straight left which hurt his opponent. In the last minute a straight left also hits the target.
ANKALAEV-RAKIC: ROUND 1
The two exchange kicks for the first couple of minutes before Ankalaev starts landing with shots from his southpaw stance. This feels like a precursor to war starting between the two in the coming rounds. They are pacing like a five-rounder. You would think one would want to take the intiative shortly.
TWO LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT TITANS NEXT
Number one-ranked Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1) meet #5 Aleksandr Rakic (14-4) next.
MURPHY WANTS JOSH EMMETT
Lerone Murphy called for a fight with eighth-rated featherweight, American veteran Josh Emmett, in his next contest, after winning an unanimous decision against Dan Ige.
“I want somebody in the Top 10,” Murphy said on TNT Sports Box Office.
“I think I’ve deserved it. Eight wins in the UFC. I’ve had half my career in the UFC. Give me someone in the Top 10. Let’s go with Josh Emmett.”
MURPHY WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION!
He takes the fight 29-28 on all three scorecards. This was one where you wouldn’t have begrudged a split decision.
MURPHY-IGE: ROUND 3
Murphy in control early but he errs in trying to take down Ige who wrestles control for the two minutes they are on the mat. They get back to the feet and Murphy takes him down once more, this time landing rights and elbows to Ige’s head, before putting on a front headlock. Back to their feet Murphy lands a flurry of shots and attempts a high knee and spinning kick. I think this might just have been enough to get Murphy the third.
MURPHY-IGE: ROUND 2
Less drama in this round and that suits Murphy. He landed quality shots with either hand and then got out of range. Murphy took Ige down in the closing stages, but Ige took control briefly before the end. Definitely Murphy’s round.
MURPHY-IGE: ROUND 1
Ige rushing to close down Murphy but it sees the Manchester fighter land an elbow which causes a cut right down the middle of Ige’s head. Ige then takes Murphy down and leans on him against the fence. Murphy gets up at the mid point of the round. Murphy seemed in control but then got caught with a huge left hand which put him down and almost out as Ige launched shots, but then Murphy came back with a high knee of his own and took down Ige. How do you score that round?
MANCHESTER’S MIRACLE LOOKS FOR 7TH STRAIGHT UFC WIN NEXT…
Lerone Murphy (#12) comes up against Dan Ige (#14) shortly.
THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION IS READY TO GO…
MAGOMEDOV KO’s PETROSYAN IN ROUND 2!
A double spinning back fist put Petrosyan down and the referee immediately called a halt to the contest.
There was a short delay early as Petrosyan catches Magomedov low. Magomedov claimed a low blow a little later and then Petrosyan got some time to get over a low kick himself – though this seemed on the thigh. The round seemed to be meandering out until Magomedov ended the fight in a way the commentators have never seen done before in the UFC.
MAGOMEDOV-PETROSYAN: ROUND 1
Petrosyan rocks Magomedov badly in the first round, with a huge right hand early and then landing big shots with either hand that have Magomedov’s mane wobbling all over the place. After the first minute, Magomedov looked the stronger and landed a big left hook and overhand right but Petrosyan landed more and edged the round.
MAGOMEDOV-PETROSYAN NEXT
Unbeaten Sharaputdin Magomedov (14-0) fights Armen Petrosyan (9-3) in a middleweight contest.
ROBERT WHITTAKER LOOKS READY FOR BUSINESS
KHAMZAT IS IN THE BUILDING
Ready for his co-main event against Robert Whittaker.
BRITAIN’S LERONE MURPHY IN ACTION SOON…
He will take on UFC veteran Dan Ige in what we are expecting will be the second bout on the main card.
HOW TO WATCH UFC 308: Topuria v Holloway
EE TV – Customers can purchase the event via their STB on channel 494.
Prime Video – Customers do not need to have a Prime or discovery+ subscription to access this event. You can find live and upcoming PPV events in the “Live and upcoming events” row on the Prime Video homepage and sports page, or by searching for a specific event title.
Virgin Media TV – Customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View events rail.
ASLAN IS READY TO STEP UP IN COMPETITION!
ASLAN STOPS CERQUEIRA IN ROUND 1!
The heavy-handed Turkish fighter landed a big left hand which rocked the Brazilian’s legs and from this point onward kept on landing shots with either hand, slipping in the odd body shot too, and with nothing coming back the referee stops the previously unbeaten Brazilian on his feet.
THE CHIEF BOUT OF THE PRELIMS NEXT…
And it is easily worthy of most main cards. Ex-Contender series light heavyweight Ibo Aslan (13-1) takes on unbeaten Brazilian Rafael Cerqueira (11-0).
NEAL WINS BY FIRST-ROUND STOPPAGE!
Neal was dominant anyway, landing his patented strikes and putting his opponent down with a straight left, but Dos Anjos went down with a left knee injury shortly afterwards, saying he heard it pop, and the bout is stopped.
NEAL-DOS ANJOS UP NEXT
The #10-ranked Geoff ‘Hans of Steel’ Neal takes on 40-year-old Rafael Dos Anjos.
REBECKI WINS ON POINTS!
Rebecki wins a split decision! The right outcome. Two judges had the fight 29-28 to him, one had the fight by the same score the other way.
REBECKI-ORALBAI: ROUND 3
Big right hand shakes Oralbai to his bones and a left puts him down. The commentators call for the fight to be stopped as Rebecki piles on the pressure, though Oralbai gets to his feet. In the middle of the round, Oralbai somehow recovers to put in some offensive shots. Rebecki then looks to keep the fight on the ground but Oralbai spins him around and ground and pounds. Rebecki gets up but has nothing less and just about avoids being stopped in the closing stages. Both fighters have nothing left at the end. What a fight!
REBECKI-ORALBAI: ROUND 2
The crowd is going crazy in Abu Dhabi as Oralbai showed his warrior spirit to come back into the round with a series of uppercuts and elbows driving Rebecki back. A clash of heads leaves Rebecki with a huge cut over his right eye.
REBECKI-ORALBAI: ROUND 1
An intriguing round. Oralbai looked the stronger but Rebecki landed the bigger shots closing his opponent’s right eye with a huge roundhouse left and took the round. The doctor check the eye and after he identified the two fingers the doctor was holding up, he was allowed to continue.
REBECKI-ORALBAI NEXT
A catchweight between two well-matched fighters, including one who could have a big future, Myktybek Oralbai who is on an eight-fight win streak.
MAGOMEDOV SUBMITS FERRIERA IN ROUND 3
It was a very close fight in our first of the night but Abus Magomedov looked the stronger in the third round and managed to make Brunno Ferriera tap out.
HELLO AND WELCOME…
Thanks for joining our coverage of UFC 308!
You can tune into this stacked bill, with much-anticipated main event of Ilia Topuria defends his UFC Featherweight crown against Max Holloway, live on TNT Sports Box Office.
What time does UFC 308 start in the UK?
HOW TO WATCH UFC 308: Topuria v Holloway
EE TV – Customers can purchase the event via their STB on channel 494.
Prime Video – Customers do not need to have a Prime or discovery+ subscription to access this event. You can find live and upcoming PPV events in the “Live and upcoming events” row on the Prime Video homepage and sports page, or by searching for a specific event title.
Virgin Media TV – Customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View events rail.