Early betting for Topuria vs. Holloway fight card

The next UFC pay-per-view card takes place on October 26. That fight card, UFC 308, heads to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The headliner bout pits UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria against former 145-pound champion Max Holloway.

Tonight’s co-main event will see former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker meet Khamzat Chimaev.

Also on the UFC 308 pay-per-view card is a potential UFC light heavyweight title eliminator. Magomed Ankalaev faces Aleksandar Rakic ​​in that scrap.

Topuria (15-0), a former Cage Warriors champion, joined the UFC in 2020 with a 9-0 record. It didn’t take long for him to make a name for himself. He was ranked No. 14 in the featherweight division after three UFC fights at 145 pounds and one bout in the 155-pound division. Three of those scraps ended with Topuria winning via knockout.

In his first fight as a ranked featherweight, Topuria submitted Bryce Mitchell via submission in the second round, earning his first Performance of the Night bonus and moving to No. 9 in the rankings.

A match with No. 5 Josh Emmett followed Mitchell’s win. Topuria made a decision in a ‘Fight of the Night’ segment. Topuria’s next fight saw him face Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title at UFC 298. Topuria entered that fight as the No. 3 ranked featherweight. He left as champion after eliminating Volkanovski in the second stanza. Topuria claimed another “Performance of the Night” bonus for that win.

Holloway (26-7) has been with the UFC since 2012. If there’s one statistic the UFC keeps track of, chances are Holloway is one of the leaders. He holds the UFC featherweight record for wins (20), finishes (11), knockouts (nine), win streak (13 in a row), fight night bonuses (10), total fight time (6:47:23), significant strikes ( 2,892), and the total number of strikes (3,096).

Holloway’s career as a UFC featherweight champion began in June 2017 when he knocked out Jose Aldo. Holloway entered that match as interim champion, a title he won by knocking out Anthony Pettis in December 2016. He defended his title against Aldo (TKO), Brian Ortega (TKO) and Frankie Edgar (decision). He also attempted to win the interim UFC lightweight title during that run, but came up short, dropping a decision to Dustin Poirier.

Holloway’s championship run ended in December 2019 when Alexander Volkanovski defeated him by decision. Volkanovski retained the title in an immediate rematch.

Wins over Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez earned Holloway another shot at Volkanovski and his title in July 2022, but the champion retained his belt with a decisive win.

Since that setback, Holloway has picked up wins over Arnold Allen, Korean Zombie and Justin Gaethje. Gaethje’s victory, a fight in the race for Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year, gave Holloway the BMF title. That fight took place in April at 155 pounds. Holloway has not competed since that memorable win.

Holloway is the No. 2 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings, where he trails Volkanovski.

Whittaker (26-7) is the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings, while Chimaev (13-0) is the No. 12 fighter in the UFC’s 185-pound division.

With Alex Pereira’s successful title defense against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307, the winner of the Ankalaev vs. Rakic ​​fight could be next in line for a shot at Pereira’s title. Ankalaev (18-1-1-1) is the UFC light heavyweight’s No. 2 ranked prospect, while Rakic ​​(14-4) is ranked No. 5.

Below we take a look at the early odds for the entire UFC 308 fight card.

ESPN+ PPV carries the UFC 308 pay-per-view card at 2:00 PM ET on October 26, following prelims on ESPNews at 10:00 AM ET

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UFC 308 full fight card

UFC 308 Pay-Per-View Card

Ilia Topuria (-219) vs. Max Holloway (+180)

Robert Whittaker (+164) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (-198)

Lerone Murphy (-198) vs. Dan Ige (+164)

Magomed Ankalaev (-380) vs. Aleksandar Rakic ​​​​(+300)

Sharabutdin Magomedov (-180) vs. Armen Petrosyan (+150)

UFC 308 preliminary card

Geoff Neal (-250) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (+205)

Mateusz Rębecki (+185) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (-225)

Saïd Nurmagomedov (-218) vs. Daniel Santos (+180)

Abusupiyan Magomedov (-148) vs. Brunno Ferreira (+124)

Kennedy Nzechukwu (-162) vs. Justin Tafa (+136)

Farid Basharat (-380) vs. Victor Hugo (+300)

Ismail Naurdiev (+114) vs. Bruno Silva (-135)

Rinat Fakhretdinov (-355) vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (+280)

Ibo Aslan (-148) vs. Raffael Cerqueira (+124)