Ilia Topuria stunned Max Holloway to retain the UFC featherweight title at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi – inflicting the first knockout defeat of the American’s glittering career.
Spain’s Topuria rocked former champion Holloway in the third round before ending the fight with a thudding left hook.
Topuria’s win follows his knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in February, cementing the 27-year-old as the man of the moment and the future of the division.
“To beat a legend like Max Holloway, I can’t believe it you know, he inspired me so much in my career,” said Topuria.
“He’s been a great example for the generation. I represent the new generation.”
Topuria was making the first defence of his belt after shocking Volkanovski eight months ago, ending the Australian’s four-year title reign.
It has been a rapid rise for Topuria in the UFC, finishing five of seven opponents since his 2020 debut before this contest, but in Holloway he was facing one of the most decorated athletes in UFC history.
Holloway is a former featherweight champion, reigning for two years from 2017, and holds multiple records in the division, including the most victories (20), finishes (11) and longest win streak (13).
Holloway’s knockout of Justin Gaethje in April went viral after he pointed to the floor and invited his fellow American to stand and swing, and Topuria had promised to repeat the gesture at the beginning of their bout in Abu Dhabi.
Cheered on by Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos at octagon-side, Topuria followed through on his promise but Holloway declined, choosing to start the contest in conventional fashion.
Topuria applied the early pressure with Holloway backing up to avoid any damaging shots.
The Spaniard then landed the first takedown, before attacking with leg kicks when the fight returned to the feet.
Holloway responded as he settled into his range, landing jabs and quick left-right combinations to keep Topuria at bay.
With both fighters finding success – Topuria with a stinging left hook and Holloway with a counter right – the crowd roared as the fight entered the third round.
After Holloway landed two kicks, drawing a finger gesture in response from Topuria, the Spaniard delivered the defining moment of the bout.
In Holloway’s 30-fight career, he has hardly been wobbled, but a crushing right hand from Topuria resulted in the American staggering backwards in shock.
With Holloway hurt, Topuria went on the attack before knocking him out for the first time with a perfect left hook.
Topuria celebrated by pretending to drink a cup of tea, before climbing out of the octagon to celebrate with Ramos.
Oscar Piastri has conceded the error that saw him eliminated from Q1 for Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix was a “very poor mistake”.
The McLaren driver went off the track at Turn 12 in the opening phase of qualifying, with his car bottoming out over the kerbs. His lap time was deleted for crossing the track limits, but the time he lost by getting out of shape would not have been good enough to secure a spot in Q2 anyway.
Up until that point the Australian had been over a second up on his previous best, leaving him to rue the error that saw him dumped out of Q1 for the first time this season.
“I just went off in the Turn 12, got beached on the kerb there, and that was it,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1. “My lap was easily going to be enough, so it’s very frustrating to make that mistake. I lost about a second.
“It’s just a tricky circuit but I don’t think today was down to it being tricky. It was just I made a very poor mistake, and that was it.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Piastri’s Q1 exit mirrors team-mate Lando Norris‘ last year, when Norris saw his best lap deleted for track limits and was forced to start from the back of the field.
Despite qualifying 19th – and starting from 17th due to grid penalties for others – Norris moved up to finish fifth in the race, with Piastri hoping to emulate his team-mate on Sunday afternoon.
“We had a similar kind of position for Lando last year,” Piastri added. “So I’ll make sure I do my homework on how he went through the field and try and do the same.”
Piastri will be joined at the rear of the field by home hero Sergio Perez, who was eliminated in 18th. Perez is facing a similar comeback race in front of his ardent Mexican fans on another challenging weekend for the under-pressure Red Bull man.
Gary Anderson stormed into the European Championship quarter-finals with a dominant 10-4 victory over Michael van Gerwen.
The Scot, playing in the tournament for the first time since 2016, breezed past the four-time winner in Dortmund, Germany.
Dutchman Van Gerwen failed to score a maximum and hit only four from 14 checkout chances as Anderson prevailed with an average of 96.91.
Anderson meets Ritchie Edhouse in the last eight on Sunday, while world number one Luke Humphries will face Jermaine Wattimena.
England’s Humphries, who is enjoying a stellar year, saw off Welshman Jonny Clayton 10-3.
Van Gerwen’s compatriot Wattimena came from 5-1 down to claim a dramatic 10-9 victory over James Wade.
Wattimena checked out on 124 with a bullseye to defeat the Englishman, who earlier missed double 12 for a nine-darter.
Edhouse fought back from 4-1 behind to beat world number two Michael Smith 10-9.
Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko delighted the home fans with a 10-3 defeat of Andy Gilding, who could not build on Friday’s surprise success against Luke Littler.
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Ilia Topuria backed up his talk on Saturday when he defeated Max Holloway for his first title defense in the UFC 308 main event.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) kept his undefeated record in tact with a third-round knockout victory over former champion Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in the pay-per-view headliner at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Check below for the top X (formerly Twitter) reactions to Topuria beating Holloway at UFC 308.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
BOXING star Amir Khan and wife Faryal are said to have splashed out £700,000 on “his and hers” Rolls-Royces.
The 33-year-old mum announced on social media that they could not decide between a black or red Ghost — so they “bought them both”.
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A fan claimed the motors were rentals from car dealer Exotic in Dubai where they live.
But Faryal insisted: “We buy our cars from Exotic.
“They don’t do rentals.
“I’ve never needed to rent a car in my life.”
Just a year ago Amir spent more than £130,000 on a new motor for his long-suffering wife after being caught out yet again.
But she struggled to crack a smile after getting behind the wheel of the Mercedes G Wagon which was decorated with red ribbons and balloons.
Footage posted on social media showed the stony-faced mum climbing aboard the flash car as Amir stood with a giant bunch of roses.
But fans on Instagram were quick to call his wife’s mood.
One wrote: “Money can’t buy you happiness.”
Another added: “This is has to be up there with one of the most tragic things I have seen on social media.”
The couple were reportedly “on the rocks” following a sexting scandal which saw the former boxing champ meet a woman for hotel sex over a period of four months.
Khan had demanded “no holds barred” sex from the woman last year before the fling escalated.
His wife found out about the betrayal before calling the woman and threatening to out her.
Ilia Topuria may have just locked up the Fighter of the Year.
On Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, Topuria became the first man to knock out Max Holloway, finishing him with punches in the third round of the UFC 308 main event. Following Saturday’s pay-per-view event, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew react to Topuria’s astonishing performance and where this puts him not only in the Fighter of the Year conversation, but in the pound-for-pound mix.
On top of that, MMA Fighting discusses Khamzat Chimaev breaking Robert Whittaker’s jaw with a brutal submission and whether that allows him to leapfrog Sean Strickland for a middleweight title shot, Magomed Ankalaev’s workmanlike win over Aleksandar Rakic, the judging controversies that riddled the rest of the card, and much more.
Watch the UFC 308 post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.
Herve Renard has been reappointed manager of Saudi Arabia following Roberto Mancini’s departure.
Frenchman Renard took charge of the Saudi men’s team from July 2019 to March 2023 and led them to a remarkable victory over eventual tournament winners Argentina in the group stage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
The 56-year-old left the role to lead France’s women at the 2023 World Cup and on home soil at this year’s Olympics.
He was replaced at the Saudi helm by Mancini, who he now succeeds after the Italian agreed with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to end his contract.
Mancini, 59, left his role as Italy head coach and became Saudi Arabia manager in August 2023, but he endured a difficult time in charge.
“I am back,” Renard said in a video, external posted on the Saudi national team’s X account.
“I did not intend to leave, but when your country knock on your door, you have to respond.
“I did not finish my story with Saudi yet.”
Renard’s second spell in charge will begin with World Cup qualifiers away to Australia and Indonesia in November.
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