GDT: UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway

[MMC]

Date: October 26, 2024
Venue: Etihad Arena
City: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Time: 2 pm ET/11 am PT
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Featherweight Championship bout: Ilia Topuria (c) vs. Max Holloway
Middleweight bout: Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Featherweight bout: Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige
Light Heavyweight bout: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Middleweight bout: Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)

Welterweight bout: Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Lightweight bout: Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai
Bantamweight bout: Said Nurmagomedov vs. TBA
Middleweight bout: Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)

Heavyweight bout: Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Chris Barnett
Bantamweight bout: Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo
Middleweight bout: Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva
Welterweight bout: Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Carlos Leal
Light Heavyweight bout: Ibo Aslan vs. Rafael Cerqueira​

Click to read more...

 

[I am not exposed]

Great looking card.

Well I predicted Topuria would knockout Volk. But Max would retain the featherweight title because his style might be match up well against Topuria.

But the closer we get to the fight, the less confident I am in that beginning of year prediction of Max beating Topuria.

I'm really hoping Max wins! Topuria is definitely one of the most annoying fighters on the roster currently. Although I do agree with him that the Max vs. Justin fight was really only exciting for the last 10 seconds. edit. 1st round was good as well. It will probably win fight of the year, even though it should not have won fight of the night! 10 seconds out of 25 minutes should not qualify it as fight of the year!

 

[pistolpete11]

Great looking card.

Well I predicted Topuria would knockout Volk. But Max would retain the featherweight title because his style might be match up well against Topuria.

But the closer we get to the fight, the less confident I am in that beginning of year prediction of Max beating Topuria.

I'm really hoping Max wins! Topuria is definitely one of the most annoying fighters on the roster currently. Although I do agree with him that the Max vs. Justin fight was really only exciting for the last 10 seconds. edit. 1st round was good as well. It will probably win fight of the year, even though it should not have won fight of the night! 10 seconds out of 25 minutes should not qualify it as fight of the year!

Max-Gaethje wasn't that exciting outside the last 10 seconds, but that's because Max put on a clinic. Before that fight, I was worried for Max given how much damage he's taken and how willing he is to take damage. But he proved in that fight he can be defensive if he needs to be and he will need to be against Topuria IMO.

I'm like 50/50 on it. If Max is defensive again and uses his length, I could see Topuria getting frustrated and Max slowly picking him apart more and more as the fight goes on. I don't want to take anything away from Topuria, but I do get a sense that people think he kicked Volk's ass or something. He didn't, though. He lost the first round and R2 was even-ish until he found the KO. Again, not trying to take anything away from him. Beating Volk is an incredible achievement. I just wonder what happens if he can't find that that KO shot and we all know Max's durability.

On the other hand, it's hard to say what Topuria's weakness is.

Definitely pulling for Max. But I just don't know.

 

[pistolpete11]

Whittaker's situation is kind of similar to where Max was.

Former long reigning champ. Lost to the same guy a couple of times. Beats (pretty much) everybody else in the division, but wasn't going to be given another title shot until that guy lost. Now that that guy's lost, he just needs that big win to secure his title shot. That big win is kind of scary, though. Max did it against Gaethje when everybody doubted him and now Whittaker is a decent underdog against Chimaev.

Whittaker, like Max, is one of my all time favorite fighters. I hope he can pull it off, too.

 

[CDJ]

Topuria has had some issues with strikers who are rangier than him- people forget Jai Herbert was kind of f***ing him up

Topuria ended up biting down on his mouthpiece, walking into the fire, backing him up against the cage, and slumping him…but he was losing the fight up until that moment

Ilia is a MF. Everything says he should win this matchup. He’s the fresher guy, dangerous everywhere. But it’s hard to count out Max.

 

[I am not exposed]

Topuria has had some issues with strikers who are rangier than him- people forget Jai Herbert was kind of f***ing him up

Topuria ended up biting down on his mouthpiece, walking into the fire, backing him up against the cage, and slumping him…but he was losing the fight up until that moment

Ilia is a MF. Everything says he should win this matchup. He’s the fresher guy, dangerous everywhere. But it’s hard to count out Max.

I did forget that. Thanks for giving me hope! Just don't bet on Max okay!

 

[pistolpete11]

Topuria has had some issues with strikers who are rangier than him- people forget Jai Herbert was kind of f***ing him up

Topuria ended up biting down on his mouthpiece, walking into the fire, backing him up against the cage, and slumping him…but he was losing the fight up until that moment

Ilia is a MF. Everything says he should win this matchup. He’s the fresher guy, dangerous everywhere. But it’s hard to count out Max.

That's true and Herbert is no Max Holloway, but he is 6'1" and his reach is 77in compared to Max who is 5'11" and a 69in reach. A bit of a difference there. Volk's reach is actually 71.5in, but he's only 5'6".

That fight was also up a weight class and, if I'm not mistaken, on short notice.

 

[bov]

Max took some decisive losses to guys who outboxed him, like Volk pt 3 and Poirier pt 2. Plus, Topuria knows how to mix in leg kicks effectively which has given Max some trouble in the past.

I really want Max to win, and it wouldn't surprise me, but this is a terrible stylistic matchup for him. Topuria is exceptionally confident and has shown very few flaws. His boxing and "ring generalship" (as Cruz would say) is high level. Outside of 1 round against Jai Herbert, his striking defense has been top notch and constantly improving. Plus, a really nice ground game. I think Holloway needs to establish his kicks and mix things up a lot to win this fight. But I'm really rooting for him.

Same goes for Whittaker, another likeable legend of the sport who has the tools to win but faces a really difficult matchup. If Khamzat is at the top of his game, it could be a one-sided beatdown. If the fight goes past round 2, then I have some hope. But Khamzat is one of those guys who, depending on health, could compete in an open weight tournament and do really well imo. I think he is that good at his peak, it's just a question of whether or not his body has been through irreparable damage which could affect his "ceiling".

I want to see Holloway and Whittaker take it home but I just don't see it happening, hopefully I am dead wrong.