UFC 308


UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 26, 2024, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Background

The event marked the promotion's 20th visit to Abu Dhabi and first since UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov in August 2024.
A UFC Featherweight Championship bout between current champion Ilia Topuria and former champion Max Holloway headlined the event. Diego Lopes served as backup and potential replacement for this fight.
A five-round middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev took place at the event. They were previously expected to headline UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov last June, but Chimaev withdrew due to illness.
A heavyweight rematch between former interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Ciryl Gane and former Bellator Heavyweight World Champion Alexander Volkov was expected to take place at the event. The pairing previously headlined UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov in June 2021 which Gane won by unanimous decision. However, the bout was moved to UFC 310 due to Volkov's knee injury.
A heavyweight bout between Marcos Rogério de Lima and Kennedy Nzechukwu was scheduled for this event. However, Lima withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by Justin Tafa. Subsequently, Tafa withdrew from the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Chris Barnett.
A welterweight bout between Rinat Fakhretdinov and Nursulton Ruziboev was scheduled for this event. However, Ruziboev withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was replaced by former LFA Welterweight Champion and promotional newcomer Carlos Leal.
A bantamweight bout between Said Nurmagomedov and Daniel Santos was scheduled for this event. However, one week before the event, Santos withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and the bout was subsequently cancelled.
At the weigh-ins, a lightweight bout between Mateusz Rębecki and Myktybek Orolbai was changed to a 160 pounds catchweight bout. In addition, at the weigh-ins, the originally contracted bantamweight bout between Farid Basharat and Victor Hugo was changed to a featherweight bout after Hugo weighed in at 145.5 pounds, 9.5 pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit; although Basharat weighed in at 137 pounds, he agreed to allow the fight to take place at featherweight.

Results

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
  • Fight of the Night: Mateusz Rębecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai
  • Performance of the Night: Ilia Topuria, Khamzat Chimaev and '''Sharabutdin Magomedov'''