Preview: The Featherweight Crown is on the Line at UFC 308

Ilia Topuria defends his title against former champion Max Holloway

The UFC will return to Yas Island this weekend for a stacked card of very interesting matchups, headlined by a featherweight championship bout. While this pay-per-view event may not feature the star power of some recent cards, but there are plenty of highly ranked contenders and former champions in what should be some epic showdowns.

The recently crowned featherweight king will defend his championship against a red hot former champ looking to reclaim glory. Plus, a former middleweight champ takes on a fast-rising contender in two classes and two of the top light heavyweight contenders square off in a bout with major title implications.

Light heavyweight bout: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksander Rakic

The top-ranked light heavyweight contender, Magomed Ankalev will look to stay hot and possibly earn himself the next shot at Alex Pereira for the top spot in the class. Ankalaev sports an 18-1-1 record with 10 knockouts and comes in as the heavy betting favorite. He hasn’t lost since his UFC debut in 2018, and has since taken out contenders like Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Johnny Walker. Ankalaev is a strong grappler, but he also has dynamite in his hands and mixes his strikes up well. He can end a fight in a hurry and that has made him one of the very best in the division.

Across the octagon, Aleksander Rakic is a top contender in need of a big win. After suffering a devastating knee injury in 2022 against former champion Jan Blachowicz, he returned earlier this year only to be knocked out by another former champion, Jiri Prochazka. Still, he boasts a 14-4 record with nine knockouts. Rakic is another very strong striker, which makes for a very exciting matchup with Ankalaev. These two might just stand in the middle of the octagon and throw, which will be a very fun show for the fans.

My pick: Ankalaev via 3rd round knockout

Middleweight bout: Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev

There are few fighters as popular and as respected by fight fans as former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. With a 26-7 record and 10 knockouts, Whittaker has been a mainstay among the top of the middleweight ranks for nearly a decade. And he hasn’t lost a step. In his last nine fights, he sports a 6-3 record, with those three losses coming to former champion Israel Adesanya (2x) and current champion Dricus Du Plessis. Whittaker has some of the best hands in the class but the attribute that makes him one of the best is his unmatched toughness. Whittaker has the ability to make any fight an absolute brawl and once he does that, he has a very good chance of winning.

Of course, those chances aren’t quite as good when his opponent is Khamzat Chimaev. The former welterweight contender has found a home in the middleweight division and figures to be in the title picture very soon. With a perfect 13-0 record, six knockouts and five submissions, Chimaev is a popular pick to be a future UFC champion. He’s a dangerous striker with knockout power in both hands, but perhaps a even more dangerous grappler, with submissions over two of his last four opponents. Coming off of a win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Chimaev is the betting favorite. However, I would expect this to be a very close, very fun fight.

My pick: Whittaker via decision

Featherweight Championship bout: Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

The featherweight division is more open than it has been in a long time. Alexander Volkanovski, the longtime dominant champion, finally lost his crown earlier this year. The new champ seems poised for a long title run of his own, but a former champ is returning, fresh off of one of the most spectacular victories in UFC history. This should be a very fun main event.

Ilia Topuria defeated Volkanovski in February in decisive fashion, capturing the featherweight championship with a knockout victory. Now with a perfect 15-0 record, five knockouts and eight submissions, Topuria will look to defend his title for the first time. The champ is as well-rounded as they come. Obviously he has the knockout power in his hands to end a fight in a blink, but he established himself as a submission specialist before ever coming to the UFC. It will be interesting to see if Topuria looks to go back to his grappling in this matchup against a very skilled striker, or if he looks to score his fifth knockout in his last seven fights.

The latter will be very difficult, as former featherweight champ Max Holloway has never been knocked out in 33 fights. Holloway sports a 26-7 record with 12 knockouts and he has been one of the best strikers in any class for the better part of a decade. Not really known to be a knockout artist, Holloway has impressed in his last two outings, scoring a knockout win over Chan Sung Jung and then an unforgettable knockout over lightweight contender Justin Gaethje. Six of Holloway’s seven losses have come against former champions (Volkanovski 3x, Dustin Poirier 2x and Conor McGregor), so clearly he belongs in the octagon with the very best. Now he will look to prove that again and recapture the title he lost back in 2019. Look for Holloway to stick and move and frustrate the champ by staying just out of range. If that happens, we might just see an upset and a new champion.

My pick: Holloway via decision

UFC 308 will be held Saturday, October 26 at 2 PM ET. ESPN+ subscribers can order the pay per view for $79.99.

Mike Mack
Mack is the Editorial Director for Marvel and ESPN content and he has covered comic cons, theme park events, video game showcases and other fun events. He is a fan of theme parks, sports, movies, Marvel Comics and is a self-proclaimed "nerd."