UFC 308 fight card: Topuria vs. Holloway, Whittaker vs. Chimaev headline Abu Dhabi event

The UFC featherweight title is on the line in Abu Dhabi as Ilia Topuria defends the belt against former champion and current BMF champion Max Holloway. The fight, featuring two dangerous strikers, main events a stacked UFC 308.

The co-main event will see former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker taking on Khamzat Chimaev in a five-round fight. The fight was originally for Saudi Arabia in June, but Chimaev withdrew due to illness . Since being affected by COVID-19 in 2020, Chimaev has fought four times since 2021. He has six wins via knockout and five via submission.

Whittaker won the UFC middleweight title in 2017 but lost it against Israel Adesanya in 2019. Since then, he has gone 6-2 in his last eight fights and on a two-fight win streak. "The Reaper" beat Ikram Aliskerov, Chimaev’s replacement , via first-round knockout. Whittaker requested the Chimaev fight get rebooked so he could earn another shot at gold the hard way.

“So, he’s (Chimaev) a draw, and I think the UFC, story-wise, wants to see Chimaev get a shot at the champion. They want to see Chimaev up the top of the ladder. They want to see him in that picture. But I love disrupting their plans. I love derailing their stories and that’s why I took the fight. I asked for the fight. It wasn’t offered to me," Whittaker said on the MMArcade Podcast via MMA Junkie .

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Former UFC heavyweight title contender and interim champion Ciryl Gane returns after a year away from action. The French fighter, 2-2 in his last four fights, faces former Bellator and M-1 Global heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov, who is on a four-fight win streak.

Meanwhile, top-ranked light heavyweight Magomed Anakalev faces Aleksandar Rakic, unbeaten Lerone Murphy faces a game Dan Ige, and more.

Below is the complete fight card for UFC 308.

UFC 308 fight card

• Ilia Topuria (c) vs. Max Holloway for the UFC featherweight title
• Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev; Middleweights
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov; Heavyweights
• Magomed Anakalev faces Aleksandar Rakic; Light Heavyweights
• Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige; Featherweights
• Geoff Neal vs, Rafael dos Anjos; Welterweights
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu; Heavyweights
• Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira; Middleweights
• Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev; Welterweights

Ilia Topuria defends the UFC featherweight title against Max Holloway in the main event. Topuria made his UFC debut in Abu Dhabi in 2020.

The event will also see Marcos Rogerio de Lima, 3-1 in his last four fights, face off against Kennedy Nzechukwu, on a two-fight losing streak.

Meanwhile, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, 1-2 in his last three fights, returns against Geoff Neal, 2-2 in his last four, while Rinat Fakhretdinov, 4-0-1 in the UFC, faces Nursulton Ruziboev, who just had a ten-fight win streak end in May.

UFC 308 tune-in info

• Date : Saturday, October 26
• Location: Etihad Arena - Abu Dhabi
• Time: 2 p.m. ET (10 a.m. ET for prelims)
• How to watch:
  • US: ESPN+ ($79.99 PPV fee plus $10.99/month membership)
  • UK: TNT Sports (￡3.99/month or ￡39.99/year via discovery+)
  • Canada: DAZN ($69.99)

UFC 308 will be in Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 26. The early prelims start at 8 a.m. ET, while the prelims are at 10 a.m. ET. The main card starts at 2 p.m. ET, and Topuria and Holloway should make their way to the octagon around 6 p.m. ET, depending on how long the undercard fights last.

WATCH: UFC 308: Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, exclusively on ESPN+

Fight fans can watch UFC 308 on ESPN+ PPV in the U.S.

Upcoming UFC TV schedule