UFC 308 roundtable: Is Max Holloway about to rain on Ilia Topuria’s parade?

Ilia Topuria has started so many beefs, you could be forgiven for forgetting what actually lies ahead of him.

In recent weeks, the UFC featherweight champion has traded public shots with Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev, and Belal Muhammad, seemingly uninterested in focusing his attention on the man he defends his title against at UFC 308 this Saturday: Max Holloway.

“Blessed” brings his recently won “BMF” belt into the main event matchup, but famously held the 145-pound title from 2017-2019 before a series of losses to Alexander Volkanovski seemingly put his championship days behind him. However, Holloway continued to fend off featherweight contenders, and with a stunning last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje this past April, he was able to call his shot and what he wanted was a crack at Topuria and a chance to reign over his division again.

MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew dig deeper into the headlining narrative, plus the other drama that could unfold at Saturday’s event Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

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1. Where would Max Holloway regaining the featherweight title rank among MMA’s best feel-good stories?

Lee: Holloway stepping right back into the title conversation with that virtuoso performance against Gaethje was already inspirational and the positive vibes have only intensified with the way Topuria has portrayed himself.

I get that we live in an era where every fighter feels like they need to be Conor McGregor—like, I don’t actually get it, but I get it—but seeing Topuria set his sights every which way before even authoring a single title defense just isn’t sitting right with me. To what end are some of these callouts? Is he really going to fight Belal Muhammad anytime soon? Just defend the belt, man!

Putting aside whatever animosity one might have for Topuria, it would be incredible to see Holloway claim the featherweight throne again. Sure, maybe Alexander Volkanovski has his number, but outside of that there’s no one better at 145 pounds—or at least there isn’t if Holloway wins on Saturday. All Holloway does is put on fan-friendly fights, take on anyone the UFC sends his way, and he does it all while showing nothing but respect to his opponents.

Holloway is already a champion for life in most fans’ eyes, and seeing him with a divisional title around his waist one more time, would surely bring a tear to those same eyes.

Martin: Every fighter has haters, but Holloway arguably has less than just about anybody else out there. I mean how can you not love this guy? He doesn’t say stupid stuff to get attention. He literally fights anyone the UFC throws at him. And he produced quite possibly the greatest finish in UFC history with his stunning last-second knockout over Gaethje at UFC 300.

That’s why Holloway reclaiming the belt at this stage of his career over an undefeated wrecking machine like Topuria would absolutely rank near the top of the list.

After dropping three fights to Volkanovski—I still hold on to Holloway deserving the win in the rematch—it looked like “Blessed” was stuck in limbo in his chosen division. Sure, he’s taken out just about every other contender who’s even sniffed a title shot but the losses to Volkanovski banished him to the sidelines when it came to the championship. Fortunately for him, the sheer unpredictability of this sport brought things around again with Holloway scoring that dramatic knockout over Gaethje, and Topuria sending Volkanovski to the shadow realm.

Holloway has already cemented himself as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all-time and he’s a guaranteed Hall of Famer. But watching him ascend to take the throne again at UFC 308? That might be the one time in 2024 when almost every fan finds a way to cheer for the winner.

Meshew: I would argue that Holloway reclaiming the title actually isn’t a massive feel-good story because Max already was champion. This is not like Miesha Tate unexpectedly winning the title from Holly Holm, or Glover Teixeira winning the title late in his career. Honestly, it’s not even Robbie Lawler retiring off an incredible KO win.

Which isn’t to say it’s not impressive. To the contrary, I think Holloway reclaiming the featherweight title five years after he lost it is one of the most impressive feats in UFC history.

Twenty fighters have won multiple titles in the same weight class in UFC history. Almost all of those title reclamations came within a year or two of losing the belt. The most obvious exception to this is Carla Esparza, who had almost eight years between her title reigns. That was an amazing achievement, but also the manner in which it occurred was a bit curious as Rose Namajunas fought one of the worst fights in modern MMA history. That won’t be the case with Holloway.

If Max reclaims the belt after twice failing to do so, and does it by beating a fighter everyone agrees is one of the best in the world, well, that’s incredible. It’s a nearly peerless accomplishment and one that I don’t think enough people will respect on those terms. But it would be another incredible achievement in an already Hall of Fame career.

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2. Is the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev guaranteed a title shot?

Meshew: No. And while I think they’d be the odds-on favorite to get the next one, middleweight is real wonky right now.

All signs point to Sean Strickland getting a rematch with Dricus du Plessis next. We can debate the merits of that (I think it’s silly but whatever), but that appears to be what’s happening. And while the winner of this weekend’s co-main event makes logical sense to fight the winner and would “deserve” it, deserve’s got nothing to do with it.

First, what if Strickland wins? Then he and DDP are 1-1, and a trilogy bout could make sense. Which would mean either Whittaker or Chimaev has to now sit out for nearly a year. Do they want to do that? Does the UFC? What about the rising crop of middleweight contenders behind them? No guarantee.

And if DDP wins, and so does Whittaker, are we in a rush to run that one back? Maybe it happens, but there’s also the possibility of DDP vs. Alex Pereira out there so I wouldn’t go counting my chickens.

And of course there’s the issue of Chimaev himself. Knock on wood, it looks like Chimaev is going to make it to the fight this week, but the man is simply not reliable. On top of that, it sure seems like he’s only fighting in Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, which isn’t prohibitive, but it does limit options.

All things considered, I’d say it’s likely but none of this screams “guarantee” to me.

Lee: The word “guarantee,” and Chimaev should probably never be near each other.

I’m hesitant to even write about this given Chimaev’s track record of missing out on big fights, and while I don’t believe in jinxes, it feels wrong to poke this bear. But here we are. Assuming (gulp) Chimaev actually makes it to the cage, and scores a win over Whittaker, he’s next in line.

The timing seems to be perfect, too, as he can take his sweet time preparing for his title shot while du Plessis presumably rematches Strickland at some point in the first quarter of 2025. Then the UFC can nudge Chimaev out of hibernation for an opportunity that once seemed like a guarantee (whoops, did it again) and is now the shakiest of propositions.

So no, I can’t imagine Chimaev beating Whittaker and not being sent a contract to fight for a UFC championship. What happens after he signs that contract is anybody’s guess.

Martin: In the lexicon of MMA, the word “guaranteed” falls just behind “deserves” as a term you should absolutely strike from your vocabulary if you want to stay sane watching this sport. This particular situation gets even more tenuous when you look at the two fighters involved in this matchup.

There’s no denying Whittaker is a legend at middleweight, but with a pair of losses to former champion Israel Adesanya and a one-sided drubbing from du Plessis barely 15 months ago, it’s tough to see him jump right back into title contention.

Truthfully, Chimaev actually has a better chance at a title shot with a win, but even that seems a bit unclear. His long history of injuries and illness have prevented him from building any sort of momentum over the past couple of years. Add to that, Chimaev has reportedly struggled to get a visa to travel to the United States and that’s almost like a nail in his coffin when it comes to a title fight. As much as the UFC travels internationally, Chimaev not being able to fight in the U.S. dramatically changes the ability to promote him as champion.

So basically that means nothing is guaranteed for the winner in this fight except hearing Dana White say, “we don’t make fights on the night of an event.”

3. What is the fight to watch outside of the top-2 matchups?

Martin: The only correct answer here is the light heavyweight showdown between Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakic.

By all accounts, Ankalaev should have faced Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title at UFC 307, but Khalil Rountree Jr. was granted that opportunity instead. Did it make sense? Not really, but we’ve all moved on largely thanks to Rountree’s gutsy performance before falling to the Brazilian hammer just a few weeks ago.

So now it’s up to Ankalaev to cement himself as the No. 1 contender. He must have shattered a mirror or crossed paths with a black cat because he sure seems to have the worst luck possible. He fought to a split draw with Jan Blachowicz in a title fight back in 2022 and then had a no-contest with Johnny Walker thanks to an illegal knee strike delivered in that fight that further delayed his championship aspirations.

Ankalaev can’t leave anything to chance this time. He needs to demolish or otherwise dismantle Rakic to state his case for a title shot and hope that Pereira sticks around at light heavyweight to face him.

Meshew: Low key, this card is trash but for the top fights. But when you have big fights like this event, you can get away with an undercard that underwhelms. And given that, Damon is correct: there’s only one answer and it’s Magomed Ankalaev.

I don’t know why the UFC hates Ankalaev, but they clearly do. Even Alex Pereira is talking about rejecting him. This man may well be the best light heavyweight in the world, has a rock solid case to fight for the title next, SHOULD be the consensus pick to do so, and everyone is collectively working to screw him out of it. It must be maddening for him.

So given all that, I expect Ankalaev is going to come out looking to make a statement, because he needs to. The UFC hates you? Become undeniable. Fans incorrectly think you’re boring? Become undeniable. Pereira wants to big league you? Become undeniable.

Ankalaev is going to go out on Saturday and put on the best performance he is physically capable of because he has to. And so for that, I’m tuning in.

Lee: Maybe I just have middleweight fever, but I feel like Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan will be one to watch if only because it seems ripe for weirdness.

We still don’t know what’s up with “Shara Bullet” never fighting in the U.S. That’s weird. We still don’t know if he’s actually that good, but he has that shiny undefeated record still. That’s weird. And then there’s Petrosyan, a striking specialist who seems incapable of actually knocking anyone out at the UFC level? Weird, weird, weird.

That’s been a recent trend for UFC events, the bizarre and inexplicable weighing in alongside the great and spectacular. I’m not saying Magomedov vs. Petrosyan will be the best fight of the night; in fact, there’s a strong chance it turns out to be the worst fight of the night, objectively speaking.

But I’m willing to bet at the end of the night, for better or worse, we’ll be talking about it.