The highly anticipated showdown between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway is set to headline UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, following Islam Makhachev’s recent revelation that he is dealing with an injury. The reigning UFC lightweight champion recently disclosed in an interview with a Russian media outlet that his persistent hand injury, incurred during his fifth-round […]
The highly anticipated showdown between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway is set to headline UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, following Islam Makhachev’s recent revelation that he is dealing with an injury.
The reigning UFC lightweight champion recently disclosed in an interview with a Russian media outlet that his persistent hand injury, incurred during his fifth-round submission victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June, is still causing him problems. This ongoing issue has raised concerns about his ability to defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 308 on October 26 in Abu Dhabi.
With Makhachev leaving a gap at the top of the Middle Eastern card, the UFC has turned to the featherweight title clash between Topuria and Holloway as a replacement to headline UFC 308.
That was recently confirmed by UFC CEO Dana White in a video uploaded to social media.
It’s Official! Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway is your #UFC308 main event in Abu Dhabi!
UFC is weighing a headline bout featuring Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in October with Islam Makhachev battling an injury, according to MMA…
UFC is weighing a headline bout featuring Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 in October with Islam Makhachev battling an injury, according to MMA…
Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria will headline UFC 308 in a featherweight title fight on October 26 with Islam Makhachev battling an injury, Dana White announced…
Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria will headline UFC 308 in a featherweight title fight on October 26 with Islam Makhachev battling an injury, Dana White announced…
Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 26, 2024, we’re taking a look at: Tom Aspinall Finally Admits That Strange Pre-Fight Preparations Was A Joke Ahead of his interim heavyweight title defense at UFC 304, Tom Aspinall revealed a unique pre-fight process […]
Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 26, 2024, we’re taking a look at:
Aspinall finally puts the petrol rumors to rest
Sterling got his hand raised after clutching the match in the final seconds
Holloway gives massive praise to UFC 304 fighter
Tom Aspinall Finally Admits That Strange Pre-Fight Preparations Was A Joke
The Brit told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that he was following the methods of classic bare knuckle boxers by shadow boxing around haybales and dipping his hands in petrol each night.
Some instantly called it out that Aspinall was in fact trying to trick Helwani but after he didn’t crack a smile at any point, others thought the champion might be telling the truth.
A video posted on fight week shows one half of this weekend’s co-main event calling Helwani in the middle of the night to provide evidence of his preparations.
After leading him on for a bit longer, Aspinall confessed that it was all a joke and that he’s having to tell the truth after people thought he was being serious about it.
Aljamain Sterling Pulls Off A Clutch Win In Karate Combat Grappling Debut
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling made his Karate Combat debut on July 25, where he got his hand raised in the final seconds of the contest.
Competing in the Pit Submission Series, he secured the win over Jay Jay Wilson at Karate Combat 48 in Nashville.
The contest was nearly about to end in a points draw but with the clock ticking down to the final seconds, Sterling was able to pass guard and take his opponent’s back to score the winning point in the dying moments.
With a fight like this, it will come down to which man is able to implement their approach the best and with that in mind, Holloway is backing the champ to retain in Manchester.
He broke down the card during a recent YouTube video where “Blessed” spoke extremely high of Edwards’s ability to read and control a fight.
“Belal is a tactician. he’s a gameplanner. He does not stray away from his gameplan,” Holloway said. “But so does Leon, bro. Leon is a tactician. He’s a gameplanner. He sticks to his gameplan no matter what. … A lot of people were counting Leon out (ahead of the Covington fight) like he was gonna get grappled.
“Leon is one of the very few IQs in this game that I respect, man,” Holloway continued. “His fight IQ is super high, super smart. It’s just hard to go against the champ here, bro. I think Belal puts on a fight. Early in the fight, I think it’s a tough fight. But then when we get to the third and then the championship rounds, I think Leon is gonna take over.”
Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be ready to step in on short notice if anything happens to…
Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be ready to step in on short notice if anything happens to either Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway.
Topuria is set to make his first defense of his featherweight title when he takes on Holloway, however, the fight has not been made official but both have hinted at it on social media. With Volkanovski not getting the title shot, he says he will be on standby and ready to fill in in case anything happens.
“It’s a situation obviously, again, I’m going to be getting antsy but you know, we’ve got plenty of good content coming. I’m going to, you know, I will stay ready and Ash [manager] ain’t going to like this one. I’ll be training really hard and fight fit cuz if there is a late notice, cuz that s*** excites me man, it gets me going but I’ll actually be ready for it this time. I’ll make sure I’m in good nick all year round because I want, so even me having that in my head that if you have to save the day here or there, it’s going to help in training, keep things exciting,” Volkanovski told TheMacLife (via MMANews).
It would make sense for Volkanovski to serve as a backup fighter for the featherweight title fight as he would likely be next in line to face the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway.
Alexander Volkanovski doubts UFC forced Holloway to face Topuria
Although the UFC has yet to officially announce the featherweight title fight between Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, the champ took to social media to claim that the UFC had to force ‘Blessed’ to take the fight.
Topuria had said Holloway was trying to get out of fighting him, but Alexander Volkanovski doubts that was the case at all.
“Let’s be real, you’re not forcing Max to fight,” Volkanovski said to MMAFighting. “I think it’s common knowledge that Max wants to fight him and I think he wanted to fight him sooner rather than later. There’s holdups. I’m pretty sure there’s holdups, and I don’t think it’s on Max-I’m not trying to pick sides, I’m just stating facts. I’ve got nothing against Ilia, but you’re not forcing Max in this one. Let’s be real.”
Luckily, the fight is agreed to as Topuria vs. Holloway is one of the more highly-anticipated bouts to make this year.
Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be ready to step in on short notice if anything happens to…
Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be ready to step in on short notice if anything happens to either Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway.
Topuria is set to make his first defense of his featherweight title when he takes on Holloway, however, the fight has not been made official but both have hinted at it on social media. With Volkanovski not getting the title shot, he says he will be on standby and ready to fill in in case anything happens.
“It’s a situation obviously, again, I’m going to be getting antsy but you know, we’ve got plenty of good content coming. I’m going to, you know, I will stay ready and Ash [manager] ain’t going to like this one. I’ll be training really hard and fight fit cuz if there is a late notice, cuz that s*** excites me man, it gets me going but I’ll actually be ready for it this time. I’ll make sure I’m in good nick all year round because I want, so even me having that in my head that if you have to save the day here or there, it’s going to help in training, keep things exciting,” Volkanovski told TheMacLife (via MMANews).
It would make sense for Volkanovski to serve as a backup fighter for the featherweight title fight as he would likely be next in line to face the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway.
Alexander Volkanovski doubts UFC forced Holloway to face Topuria
Although the UFC has yet to officially announce the featherweight title fight between Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, the champ took to social media to claim that the UFC had to force ‘Blessed’ to take the fight.
Topuria had said Holloway was trying to get out of fighting him, but Alexander Volkanovski doubts that was the case at all.
“Let’s be real, you’re not forcing Max to fight,” Volkanovski said to MMAFighting. “I think it’s common knowledge that Max wants to fight him and I think he wanted to fight him sooner rather than later. There’s holdups. I’m pretty sure there’s holdups, and I don’t think it’s on Max-I’m not trying to pick sides, I’m just stating facts. I’ve got nothing against Ilia, but you’re not forcing Max in this one. Let’s be real.”
Luckily, the fight is agreed to as Topuria vs. Holloway is one of the more highly-anticipated bouts to make this year.
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Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will be ready to step in on short notice if anything happens to…