Whatever happens with Max Holloway and Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, these former champions are proof that you can’t stop a good fighter.

Let’s first talk about Holloway, the current “BMF” champion and former featherweight champion who is looking to win the final title when he takes on undefeated Ilia Topuria in Saturday’s main event in Abu Dhabi. Holloway had a brilliant stint as champion from 2017 to 2019 before running into rival Alexander Volkanovski, a fellow future Hall of Famer who happens to be his perfect foil. Holloway’s inability to beat Volkanovski seemed to signal the end of his career as top dog at 145, but he kept winning tough fights, putting on spectacular performances and creating viral moments to the point where he clawed his way back to the title . conversation.

Now we’ll see if Holloway can close out one of the most feel-good stories we’ve ever seen.

The stakes aren’t as high for Whittaker in the co-main event, but he faces a similar challenge as he faces a gifted opponent who has never tasted defeat. Whittaker faced his own version of Volkanovski in the form of then-champion Israel Adesanya and future champion Dricus du Plessis, two opponents who relegated Whittaker to contender status. But like Holloway, he has crawled back to a title shot, and an upset from Chimaev will have fans blowing up Dana White’s socials to give “The Reaper” his due.

Everyone should appreciate what Holloway and Whittaker are trying to accomplish here, because no one would have blamed them if they gave up on their championship dreams when they were at their lowest point.

In other main card action, the No. 1 light heavyweight prospect looks to become even more the No. 1 contender (?) as he fights Aleksandar Rakic, Lerone Murphy meets Dan Ige in a fight with sneaky implications for the featherweight title, and the popular Shara Bullet opens the main card against Armen Petrosyan.

What: UFC308

Where: Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday October 26. The eight-fight preliminary card kicks off at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by the five-fight main card at 2 p.m. ET exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view

(Numbers in brackets indicate that you are inside MMA Fighting’s global rankings And Pound-for-Pound Rankingings)

Ilia Topuria (1, P4P-4) vs. Max Holloway (3, P4P-T9)

Whether you’re in favor of Max Holloway or not, there are plenty of reasons to believe he can beat Ilia Topuria besides good vibes.

Yes, Topuria beat Alexander Volkanovski and Volkanovski beat Holloway three times, but put the MMA math aside and you’ll see this is a classic case of styles feuding. The “get it done quickly” mentality that Topuria used against Volkanovski won’t serve him as well against the titanium-chinned Holloway. If Topuria goes too fast in the opening rounds, he could swim upstream in the championship frames.

However, it’s up to Holloway to make it work. Holloway’s mix of high volume and precision will give Topuria a headache, but Topuria’s technical skills are so sharp that he could catch Holloway with some of the same shots that felled Volkanovski. I don’t expect Holloway to go down and stay, but could Topuria become just the second fighter to take him down? I see it.

I look past all the weird side quests that Topuria seems set on and trust that he’ll be at his best come fight night, because when he’s on he’s legitimately one of the top five fighters in the world. Topuria can make a big statement with a convincing win over Holloway and while I don’t expect him to dominate from bell to bell, he should come away with a controversy-free decision victory.

Choose: Topuria

Robert Whittaker (4) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (12)

Look, I can’t tell you for sure that I didn’t write all those nice things about Robert Whittaker and Max Holloway to soften the blow I had against both of them. But I choose against both.

Dricus du Plessis wrote the blueprint for bullying Whittaker and as much as Whittaker learned from that loss, I don’t think he has an answer to the sheer physicality of Khamzat Chimaev. I’ve never jumped off the Chimaev bandwagon, confident in my belief that he can beat anyone as long as he makes it to the cage.

As I write this, there’s still plenty of time for Saturday’s co-main event to fail, but assuming Chimaev makes the walk, I expect his unreal combination of power, speed, wrestling ability and raw power to be on full display . We’ll know early if Whittaker is ready to play the spoiler if he can nail a few Chimaev takedowns and avoid early flurries. Remember, this is a five-round fight, and if Whittaker gets past Round 3, Chimaev’s chances of winning decrease exponentially with each passing minute.

So this is kind of a leap of faith as I’m going with Chimaev to keep his act together and finish Whittaker in the first or second round.

Choose: Chimaev

Magomed Ankalaev (3) vs. Aleksandar Rakic ​​​​(7)

This is simply the ultimate banana peel for Magomed Ankalaev.

Undefeated in twelve straight fights, Ankalaev is somehow at risk of potentially losing what should have been a surefire victory for Aleksandar Rakic’s light heavyweight title, despite Rakic ​​coming off two consecutive defeats separated by a two-year layoff due to injury. MMA.

Rakic ​​​​is also a threat! He looked sharp in his comeback fight before getting Prochazka and if he sticks to the game plan of leg kicks and counter combos, this could be a serious problem for Ankalaev. When Ankalaev fought Jan Blachowicz to a draw, a large part of his struggles came from Blachowicz cutting his leg in the first three rounds. Then Ankalaev went to his grappling to turn the fight on its head.

Should he consider focusing on his wrestling to stifle Rakic’s offense? It didn’t hurt, although the slender Rakic ​​has shown good takedown defense when he has had to use it. With just three rounds left – and more importantly, to impress Dana White – Ankalaev may have to throw caution to the wind and stick to a stand-up duel.

That won’t be a problem for Ankalaev, a great striker who has strangely been labeled as an unattractive challenger for Pereira despite half of his UFC wins coming via knockout. He will combine martial arts to break Rakic’s rhythm when it counts, but when it comes time to finish, Ankalaev will release his limbs and take Rakic ​​out.

Choose: Ankalaev

Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige (15)

After several years of struggling to string fights together, Lerone Murphy is finally hitting the ground running and now it’s just a matter of making that brutal climb up the featherweight ladder. Dan Ige is the next logical step, a veteran who has gone the distance with the best of them, even if he has failed to prove himself as a top-10 fighter himself.

Murphy showed incredible pressing in his recent victory over Edson Barboza, but don’t expect Ige to counter the same tactics. “50K” is always in top form and a tough 15 minutes will not cause him any problems. I suspect we’ll see Murphy mix up his tactics even more, poking Ige in the feet when he finds an opening and taking him down when the stand-up exchanges get too heated.

But overall, I like Murphy putting up a close fight, doing just enough to beat Ige and keep him from sparking his own offense. It won’t be easy, but Murphy’s undefeated streak continues.

Choose: Murphy

Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan

Don’t ask me why, I expect so much strangeness in this matchup.

“Shara Bullet” should win this based on his finishing ability and unpredictable movement, but they didn’t give him a layup in Armen Petrosyan. The Russian-Armenian kickboxer specializes in long, methodical stand-up fights, which can lead to frustration for Magomedov (and those of us watching at home). Neither fighter has shown any inclination to push the pace, so look for long stretches of half-hearted moves and feints as they try to goad the other man into making a mistake.

That said, I can’t shake the thought that this fight will be filled with strange fouls, a restless crowd clamoring for more action, and maybe even a scoring controversy if we’re lucky. Magomedov brings with him a huge following when he steps into the octagon and there’s star potential there, but I’m still not convinced he can impose his will on a fight. Glad to see evidence to the contrary.

Magomedov by decision?

Choose: Magomedov

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Brunno Ferreira def. Abu Magomedov

Chris Barnett def. Kennedy Nzechukwu

Farid Basharat def. Victor Hugo

Ismail Naurdiev def. Bruno Silva

Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal