ABU DHABI – Many viewers were surprised at what they heard when the official decision of his fight was read Saturday, but Rinat Fakhretdinov wasn’t.

Following his unanimous decision win over Carlos Leal at UFC 308, Fakhretdinov (23-1-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC) voiced his disagreement with the broadcast team that the judges got it wrong.

“Why were they surprised with the decision?” Fakhretdinov said to MMA Junkie and other reporters at his UFC 308 post-fight news conference. “… Really bad commentators. … First round was pretty close. It could’ve gone either way. I didn’t have any doubt the second or third round was mine. After your words, people will say again the Arabs bought the decision.”

According to MMA Decisions, 100 percent of voting media members scored the fight for Leal with more than 75 percent of viewers also scoring the fight for the Brazilian.

The court of public opinion is meaningless when it comes to the victory added to his win column. Fakhretdinov now rides a 23-fight unbeaten streak, the current longest in the promotion. Fakhretdinov thinks he’s ready for the best of the welterweight division and is eagerly awaiting the next call.

“It doesn’t matter,” Fakhretdinov said. “Anyone from the top 15, top 10, if you put in front of me will be the same. I will get the win. Maybe it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a hard win, but I’m going to win. … Even the day after tomorrow I can fight for the title if you give me the chance.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

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Robert Whittaker wants fans to know you haven’t seen the last of him.

The former UFC middleweight champion came out on the wrong end of a nasty submission Saturday at UFC 308 as he had his jaw crushed by undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev. It was just the second time in Whittaker’s legendary career that he lost via tap-out and the first time since 2011, well before his UFC stardom.

Afterwards, Whittaker released a statement on the result via Instagram.

“It’s a tough gig sometimes but that’s the business,” Whittaker wrote. “Big congratulations to Khamzat, he was the better man tonight and that’s all there is to it. I felt great, everything was on point and I was ready.

“My jaw is good, but my teeth were moved in. It’s a good excuse to fix them properly now. I’m disappointed, but I come back better from every setback and every challenge so this is no different.”

Whittaker had been working to earn another shot at the UFC middleweight title and entered Saturday on a two-fight win streak with convincing performances against Ikram Aliskerov and Paulo Costa. Now, the 33-year-old finds himself going back to the drawing board and needing some serious rest time after the loss to Chimaev.

See Whittaker’s unedited comments below:

Thank you everyone for all the love and support. It’s a tough gig sometimes but that’s the business. Big congratulations to Khamzat, he was the better man tonight and that’s all there is to it. I felt great, everything was on point and I was ready. My jaw is good, but my teeth were moved in. It’s a good excuse to fix them properly now haha. I’m disappointed, but I come back better from every setback and every challenge so this is no different. I want to thank my team and everyone who supported me to get here. Time to go spend time with the family for a bit. Be back soon

ABU DHABI – Geoff Neal stepped into the cage Saturday at UFC 308 and left with a win, but felt like he didn’t even fight.

In his welterweight prelim, Neal (16-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) defeated former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (32-17 MMA, 21-15 UFC) by first-round TKO due to knee injury. Neal was only hit twice.

“RDA is a legend, and I wish there would’ve been more a fight – especially because I wanted a bonus, too,” Neal told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I wish it was a little bit more. But it is what it is. Hopefully he heals up and comes back. It sucks to see a legend go out like that. … My leg is a little sore, but I want to get back in there. I’m trying to get back in there by December or January or February. I’m right back in the lab after this.”

Neal, 34, snapped a two-fight skid with the win. His ascent up the ladder toward gold has restarted. Given the fact he’s the last person to beat current champion Belal Muhammad, a narrative is there that has not previously been. Neal defeated Muhammad by unanimous decision in January 2019.

Could that expedite his journey to the top? Maybe, admits Neal, though he thinks he’ll reach the end location regardless of the duration it takes to get there.

“Honestly, I feel like I’m going to get there no matter what,” Neal said. “But I think it will go quicker if Belal does keep the belt.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.

Ilia Topuria likely has a familiar foe awaiting him for his second title defense.

After becoming the first person to knock out Max Holloway in a stunning performance to cap off UFC 308 on Saturday, the reigning UFC featherweight champion came face-to-face with the man he beat to win the belt. Alexander Volkanovski made his way into the cage following Topuria’s win and the former opponents shared a few kind words for each other in anticipation of an expected rematch.

While UFC CEO Dana White typically doesn’t like to play matchmaker on the same night of an event, he says it’s almost certain that Volkanovski gets the chance to run it back with Topuria next.

“Listen, Volkanovski’s one of those guys, we’re not going to say no to Volkanovski,” White said at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference. “He’s been that guy for us. Any time we needed him. He was on this run like [Israel] Adesanya, like Alex [Pereira] is on right now, when things don’t go our way, and you’ve got to call a guy, Volkanovski’s always been that guy. He really was.

“I don’t think anybody’s in this room going ‘oh this is ridiculous or crazy’ and who wouldn’t want to see it again?”

Volkanovski hasn’t fought since he suffered a knockout loss to Topuria back in February in the fight that cost him the featherweight title. That actually served as his second consecutive knockout loss after Volkanovski fell to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in similar fashion after he accepted a short-notice fight with hopes of winning a second title.

Instead, Volkanovski ate a brutal head kick in the first round that ended his night. Four months later, Topuria dished out the same result. Afterwards, Volkanovski was told he could get a rematch when he was ready to compete again and it appears the UFC is following through on that promise.

There’s no timeline when the fight might happen, although Volkanovski was pushing to return at the upcoming UFC 312 card scheduled for Australia in February. Prior to his win on Saturday, Topuria shot down any hope that he would defend his title in enemy territory so it remains to be seen when or where the rematch against Volkanovski happens.

With a perfect 16-0 record that now includes wins over two of the greatest featherweights of all time in Volkanovski and Holloway, Topuria is already entering rarified area when it comes to his career. A second win over Volkanovski would separate Topuria even further from his peers at 145 pounds.

“We were just talking in the back. As you start to clip off legend after legend after legend, you eventually become a legend,” White said about Topuria. “Both guys looked great tonight. Max came in with the right game plan. I think the early calf kicks added up and took their toll later in the fight. Those things are so devastating when people throw them the right way. He couldn’t have fought a better fight.

“[Topuria] took some big shots himself. Has the chin, kept coming forward, incredible performance by both guys. But Topuria did something that nobody’s ever done before.”

“We definitely believe the goal can give us some momentum – 2-1 compared to 2-0 is a big difference and it could be a very important goal.

“I am glad to have been the one to put it away and hopefully we can put a few more away in Cardiff on Tuesday.”

Morgan said Wales’ players were frustrated with a performance that Wilkinson described as the “worst” in her time as Wales boss.

“It’s obviously disappointing for us as a team, we felt prepared coming in and we didn’t get the result that we wanted,” she said.

“Slovakia were aggressive and we knew they were. Maybe we didn’t react to what they were doing and challenge them enough and compete at their level.

“We will review the game, watch it individually and show where we need to be better and hopefully we can put it right on Tuesday, which I know that we can.”