The
Ultimate Fighting Championship looks to have yet another
full-fledged European superstar on its hands at 145 pounds.
Ilia
Topuria brought down Max
Holloway with punches in the third round of their
UFC 308 headliner, as he retained his undisputed featherweight
championship on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates. Stopped by strikes for the first time in his 34-fight
career, Holloway (26-8, 22-8 UFC) met his end 1:34 into Round
3.
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Topuria (16-0, 8-0 UFC) broke down the Hawaiian with leg kicks and
right hands over the top. Holloway answered with his patented jab,
doing all he could to keep the champion at bay with his superior
length. It worked for a time. Topuria cracked him with a right hook
in the third round and flurried with body-head combinations. A
sweeping left hook sent Holloway crashing to the canvas in a
semi-conscious heap before the Spaniard closed it out with short
punches and hammerfists.
Meanwhile, Allstars Training Center product Khamzat
Chimaev disposed of Robert
Whittaker with a face crank in the first round of their
middleweight co-main event. Whittaker (26-8, 17-6 UFC) conceded
defeat 3:34 into Round 1, suffering his first submission loss in
almost 13 years.
Chimaev (14-0, 8-0 UFC) struck for a takedown inside the first
minute, kneed the body and legs, outscrambled the former champion
and grounded him a second time. He then transitioned to the back,
hammered away with punches and slipped his arms into place for the
crank. Whittaker tapped immediately, appearing to have suffered an
injury to his jaw. Kills rarely come cleaner at such a high
level.
It was the ninth first-round finish of Chimaev’s career.
Elsewhere, Magomed
Ankalaev fortified his position as the No. 1 contender at 205
pounds with a unanimous decision over the American Top Team-trained
Aleksandar
Rakic in a three-round light heavyweight showcase. Ankalaev
(19-1-1, 11-1-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks
from the judges.
Rakic (14-5, 6-4 UFC) lost his way after a competitive first round.
Ankalaev pressed forward behind front kicks to the body and his
educated left hand, targeting the head and body with similar
fervor. He kept his foot on the accelerator down the stretch,
tagged Rakic repeatedly, thwarted an attempted takedown and stayed
busy in the clinch with knee strikes and short punches.
Afterward, Ankalaev set his sights on undisputed light heavyweight
champion Alex
Pereira.
Further down the main draw, Manchester Top Team’s Lerone
Murphy called upon close-range elbow strikes, timely takedowns
and unshakeable resolve in a unanimous decision over Dan Ige in a
three-round featherweight attraction. All three cageside judges
scored it 29-28 for Murphy (15-0-1, 7-0-1 UFC).
Ige (18-9, 10-8 UFC) had his moments. He sat down the ex-Full
Contact Contender titleholder with a counter left hook in the first
round and flirted with a pair of arm-triangles in the third. Murphy
largely owned the spaces in between with cleaner standup—he cut the
Hawaiian near the right eye and across the bridge of the nose—and
an effective clinch. He made a stronger closing argument, too, as
he secured a late takedown, consolidated it with some
ground-and-pound and briefly sought a brabo choke.
The undefeated Murphy has posted seven straight wins since his
split draw with Zubaira
Tukhugov four-plus years ago.
Finally, Sharabutdin
Magomedov kept his perfect professional record intact and do so
in jaw-dropping fashion, as he brought down onetime Fight Nights
Global champion Armen
Petrosyan with a double spinning backfist in the second round
of their middleweight appetizer. Magomedov (15-0, 4-0 UFC) drew the
curtain 4:52 into Round 2.
Petrosyan (9-4, 3-3 UFC) crowded him with active kicks and repeated
kicks to the legs, only to be victimized by one of the most
spectacular finishes in recent memory. Late in the second round,
Magomedov cut loose with a spinning backfist from the right side.
With the blow partially blocked by the Petrosyan, he immediately
spun to the other side and connected. The Armenian kickboxer
crashed to the canvas and turned away from contact, resulting in
the stoppage.
The 33-year-old Petrosyan has lost back-to-back bouts.
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