UFC 308 predictions: Will Holloway begin 2nd title reign vs. Topuria?

Ahead of Saturday's UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, theScore's Nick Baldwin makes his picks for the main-card bouts.

Featherweight championship

Ilia Topuria (15-0)
vs.
Max Holloway (26-7)

This is the best fight that can be made in MMA right now - and I am beyond excited to watch it.

Ilia Topuria returns after stunning longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski with a brutal knockout in February to make his first featherweight title defense against another former champ, Max Holloway.

Holloway is coming off the front-runner for Knockout of the Year, a wild, last-second finish of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 that earned him the BMF title.

After Holloway destroyed one of the UFC's top-ranked lightweights in Gaethje, my immediate reaction was that he'd be able to defeat Topuria whenever they met in the Octagon. Six months later, I'm feeling less confident, and I recognize that Topuria is the rightful betting favorite. That said, I'll stick to my guns and lean toward "Blessed" to regain the throne and complete one of the greatest redemption stories ever.

Topuria is the sharper, more powerful puncher of the two, and he's arguably one of the best boxers in the UFC. But Holloway is also elite on the feet and stays busy like no one else. He holds the records for significant strikes landed all time (3,378) and in a single fight (445 against Calvin Kattar). The matchup likely comes down to Topuria's power versus Holloway's output, and I think Holloway - who's famous for his granite chin and has never been knocked out - can outlast the champion down the stretch.

Things could get interesting if Topuria tries to grapple Holloway. But given Topuria's tendency to keep things standing against Volkanovski and (mostly) against Josh Emmett, I think we'll see a very competitive stand-up affair between these two.

The pick: Holloway, unanimous decision

Middleweight bout

Robert Whittaker (26-7)
vs.
Khamzat Chimaev (13-0)

This is another matchup that's been in the works for a while and is must-see TV.

Khamzat Chimaev has been the boogeyman of the middleweight division (and welterweight when he was there) since debuting in the UFC in 2020. However, if there's anyone who can take his undefeated record, it's former champion Robert Whittaker.

Chimaev is an extremely fast starter. He's beaten the likes of Kevin Holland, Li Jingliang, and Gerald Meerschaert in the first round, the latter of which was a 17-second knockout. But Chimaev hasn't looked as impressive when he's gone into deep waters - against Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. As fights progress, Chimaev slows down and becomes less and less dominant.

That's where Whittaker can capitalize in this matchup, just the second five-rounder of Chimaev's UFC career (the first of which ended in under three minutes).

It won't be surprising if Chimaev does Chimaev things to Whittaker early on, but the key here is whether or not he turns that into a finish. If Chimaev doesn't and Whittaker weathers the early storm, it'll be a completely different fight by the second and third rounds. Whittaker is a machine on the feet. I expect him to turn the tide pretty quickly if he can start shrugging off Chimaev's takedown attempts as Usman did.

Chimaev isn't bad on the feet by any means. Still, Whittaker is superior. Whittaker is coming off a devastating first-round knockout of Ikram Aliskerov but has no problem pot-shotting his way to a decision victory if needed. My guess is that Whittaker survives the first round, gains a little momentum, and eventually pours it on Chimaev for a late TKO stoppage.

The pick: Whittaker, fourth-round TKO

Light heavyweight bout

Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1, 1 NC)
vs.
Aleksandar Rakic (14-4)

Aleksandar Rakic is a good test for anybody at 205 pounds, but I can't pick against Magomed Ankalaev.

Riding a 12-fight unbeaten streak and looking to lock up the next crack at light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira with a victory, Ankalaev is one of the few truly well-rounded fighters at the top of the division. Ankalaev came into the UFC in 2018 as a wrestler but has rounded out his game since, most recently scoring a violent knockout win over Johnny Walker in January.

Ankalaev will have his work cut out for him against Rakic, who suffered a knockout loss to Jiri Prochazka in a back-and-forth fight at UFC 300 in April in his return from a two-year layoff. Rakic is pretty good everywhere, too, and has some nasty knockouts on his resume.

Ultimately, I think Ankalaev will control the pace of the fight and mix up his grinding style with some hard shots on the feet to earn a clear-cut victory.

The pick: Ankalaev, unanimous decision

Other main-card predictions: Lerone Murphy def. Dan Ige by decision; Shara Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan by TKO