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A care package of newly imported superstars found a drop zone in Etihad Arena on October the 26th to electrify the fight world; establishing themselves as pillars of the sport moving forward. Both outcomes of the co-main event and main event of UFC 308 ended in bittersweet fashion. The sweet brings anticipation for the future in terms of divisions and star-power champion material; the bitter brings fight fans to their knees as they witnessed all-time fan favorites, face the Reaper. The new imports are shining bright and set to push the future of the UFC, but everything comes with a price. Sacrifices were made. On we go.
The event was a thrill ride in Abu Dhabi, despite another rollercoaster night at the scorers' table. Nothing to spit on; it's the same old, same old with commissions and international commissions. The fights brought the noise. That always trumps anything else! Mateusz Rębecki and Myktybek Orolbai logged in a war for the ages, Ibo Aslan welcomed Rafael Cerqueira to the UFC in zero snatchin' fashion, and the Weasley haired, one-eyed Russian star gave us a knockout of the year candidate in double-spinnin' motion:
video via @Official_Fashad//X
Sounds like consecutive gunshots connecting; just beautiful-beautiful Muay Thai offense by Shara Bullet. I certainly can comprehend his nickname. That's one of my favorite knockouts of not just the year, but in all my watching of the sport (I am a MT guy). One I can't wait to replay over and over for years to come. To hell with his eye! There should be no restrictions on the fight game feeling the Shara energy. If the cat wants to fight with one eye; he can bloody fight with one eye! That knockout was money, and was the perfect opening spark to set up the rest of the main-card to bring the noise.
Lerone Murphy kept his zero over "50K" Dan Ige to keep climbing the 145 ladder, and Ankalaev got the job done against Rakić to move toward a title shot against Alex Pereira. No degrade to Rakić, but having Ankalaev win was the best option; as it sets up the best matchup for Pereira' to defend his Light Heavyweight throne against next. A 6-year long fight win streak coming in to challenge the current Reaper of UFC? It's bloody fantastic billing, and with Pereira wanting to return early in 2025, it's perfect timing to have them be billed for a full-camp of preparation. Clarity is so great!
We don't have much clarity after the feature fights in terms of next booking for each victor (and loser), but we sure as hell got clarity in other aspects. Khamzat Chimaev is an apex predator, and pound-for-pound the most dominant fighter on the planet along with Tom Aspinall (I'm talkin' DOMINANCE), and there's not an excuse or sickness left to camouflage over that clarification. That's a bad mofo; and a predator that will be very tough for any man to kill.
Khamzat freakin' Chimaev... man-oh-man! The dude ran through our favorite fighter's favorite fighter, Reaper Rob Whittaker like he was some small gazelle to fill an afternoon appetite. Khamzat records his 5th first-round finish in 8 UFC fights, and is just the second fighter in 35 professional fights to submit Whittaker. Khamzat shot, took him down, punished, then finished 'em with a face crank in three and a half minutes:
video via @thepitbullmma//TT
I was floored when I saw the quick tap. Like many, I too thought Rob had panic tapped; then of course DC showed the photo of Rob's teeth on the air moments after the fight to put those fears to a quick rest. Silly us. Khamzat has some legitimate strength. It seemed obvious that Chimaev crushed the mandible and jaw of Whittaker, but turns out, either Whittaker is super human, or the crank was strong enough to just bring Whittaker's bottom row back:
Those three teeth are just floating back there; thankfully still connected to the mandible. I can't fathom that not being a shattered jaw, but there's no way Whittaker would be talking the way he was the next day, if it was. He would have been sent right in to get the jaw wired shut. Looks like he somehow avoided a major-major facial injury, but don't kid yourself; that pain he felt had to be unbearable. I can understand the quick tap on that. What a display by Chimaev; a huge statement win after the Usman test.
Khamzat feels his statement is loud enough to earn him a title shot against Dricus du Plessis, and many agree with him. Assumingly, Dana White as well. Which leads us back to the top of the piece. We have clarity on Khamzat. Like Shavkat, Khamzat has been far too dominant to disregard a title shot. The issue? Sean Strickland claimed that number one contender spot, and holds sturdy on his stance. Strickland's rematch clause for DDP holds weight. Khamzat's resume holds weight. This is when you book that triple-threat baby, buuuut this is MMA (well, the UFC). This might cause a stand-still. It will come down to DDP's schedule, and which fighter fits in that frame. We don't know who is next for the champ, but we do know that Borz is officially the apex predator of the UFC. The quest to take his zero is one that will electrify the fight world, making best sellers off tip. Jackpot.
The care package also has delivered an enhanced boss-mode Featherweight king set to bring the division to new beginnings. The Volkanovski/Holloway regime above the rest has officially perished. The domination is over. The empire has fallen; all by the hands of the new king, El Matador. Ilia Topuria single handily ended 8-years of domination across the featherweight division. Two slayings; two epic knockouts. As epic a feat we have seen in MMA. All hail the king.
There is no more denying Ilia Topuria. The king spoke it all into existence. The words of confidence set the feat up; the hands of stone finished the job. Topuria said he would knockout Alexander Volkanovski, and he did. Then he said he would knockout Max Holloway, a man who had never been knocked down, yet alone knocked out in 33 previous pro fights; Topuria marched in and did what he said he would do. Eight years Holloway and Volk dominated the division. They were 34-2 collectively (not including the 3 matchups between the two) in the 145 division going into 2024. Then Topuria arrived to put an end to it. Took the cat just eight months to do it. Now, Topuria sits on top of the featherweight mountain with all the confidence in the world.
The sequence leading up to the finish will live in my head forever. The fight was a fabulous chess match through the first two plus rounds. I had it 1-1 along with most. Topuria was locked in, and had no hesitation in attacking Holloway. He had no fear for Holloway's power; knowing it was no match to his own. Max did real well attacking the lead leg high. Chomping at it like wood (Ilia had quite the lump), but his spacing got choppy which sprung him right into Topuria's trap. Ilia then dragged him to the deep end before laying down the final blow. My favorite type of dragging someone to the deep end. We saw Chimaev's way of dong it; Topuria's is even more beautiful to witness. Nuclear power cherried on top of god mode boxing skill (MMA standards). Topuria pieced up the self proclaimed best boxer in the UFC, and then dropped him on the Reaper's table:
video via @elmanity//X
I raved about Shara Bullet's Muay Thai striking beauty; now I get to rave on Topuria's boxing masterclass. The best in the game. Plain and simple. That boxing is straight up beautiful to watch inside the Octagon. Poetry in motion. In the moment, my brain and body couldn't line up with one another. I was losing my wits seeing Holloway tread the waters for the first time, then at the same time I was overly excited about seeing such incredibly good boxing offense. I didn't know what to do; all I could do was let the moment take me in. That it did. Seeing Holloway flatlined on the canvas was a surreal moment. So was seeing Topuria level up.
The win is bittersweet for fight fans, I am sure. Seeing an era end is always a difficult blow. Seeing two of your favorite fighters face the Reaper is a difficult blow. Thankfully, through the difficulty, there is a strong feeling of excitement for new beginnings. The UFC has a star in Ilia Topuria, and that star is set to bring a whole new drift to the featherweight circle. El Matador has slayed two of the pound-for-pound best in the world to hang on to extend his zero, and winning streak. He's 16-0 and has finished 14 of his 16 victims. 6 by knockout; 8 by subby. Topuria's confidence is now at an all-time high as he claims a seat atop the pound-for-pound ranks. Electric finishes, an undefeated zero, and a growing global fan base has given the UFC it's newest star. Now, we just wait on what's next. Volk 2? Diego Lopes?
Topuria and Chimaev skyrocket up my Men's pound-for-pound list after their respected dubs. Ilia takes Pantoja's spot in the top-5 while Khamzat is creeping on the door of my top-10. Both undefeated; both winning in dominant fashion or with an explanation point. Chimaev at 11 should be no surprise to you with how high I have Aspinall. In terms of dominance, rather you want to reflect on opponent difficult or not- in terms of dominance those two are the biggest apex predators going in the game right now. With Shavkat on the trail. Come December, I bet we have some extreme clarity across the P4P. If Bones Jones retires after his Stipe bout, we could be looking at a top-6 of Islam-Pereira-Aspinall-Shavkat-Topuria-Chimaev (in reality). We are slowly entering a wild new era post Jones/McGregor/Diaz/Poirier/Holloway/Ferguson that is set to bring the UFC to even more heights. My current pound-for-pound list:
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