A fight hasn’t aroused so many passions in a long time. Even many people consider this clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway to be a kind of champion vs. champion, as one holds the regular girdle of 145 pounds and the other the symbolic BMF.
The truth is that when the cage of UFC 308’s main event in Abu Dhabi closes, the world of combat sports will be put on hold in the face of the vision of the best featherweights of the moment. Holloway who is already a legend and a Topuria who has been writing his new story impressively.
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Both come from impressive performances that ended in knockouts. Topuria dethroned the historic Alexander Volkanovski in February to become featherweight king, while Holloway sprayed another incredible warrior like Justin Gaethje to snatch the black belt of the BMF, the world’s oldest man, and into a higher division.
The UFC may have ordered a Topuria vs Volkanovski rematch, but from the moment Holloway set the center of the octagon inviting Gaethje for an exchange of blows that would end with a brutal blow, fans and the company knew this was a fight for him.
There are many variables to be taken into account and the prediction becomes more complicated as the analysis progresses because on one side a veteran of a thousand battles like Holloway appears, who has inflicted more than 3,000 significant blows, and on the other a force uncontainable in the style of Topuria, who does not for her pleasure call The Matador.
Holloway has a kickboxing base and a pugilism that is accompanied with excellent leg movements to get in and out, hit and punish without fear of getting an impact or two in the process. He has faced a who, from Dustin Poirier to Conor McGregor, from Gaethje to Brian Ortega and he has never been knocked out.
Will Topuria be the first to smash that steel chin?
It’s likely the Georgian based in Spain has a base of Greco-Roman struggle, but his work has improved gradually and although his combinations seem a little blade of mills, the truth is that he executes them perfectly, with a great sense of opportunity. What he did to Volkanovksi was a work of art.
He doesn’t have Holloway’s trajectory but wins against Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett is irrefutable evidence of his credentials as a first-class martial artist. Very few can combine and grapple with that degree of excellence as Topuria.
Basically, this war will be decided in the domain of distances and in a complicated accusation can Topuria hurt with his blows first or will Holloway impose its volume? Many point to the triumph over Volkanovski to shore up the bets in favor of the European, but in combat sports the fact that A beat B does not mean that it is the same against C.
The experience goes on the side of the “Blessed,” but the moment goes hand in hand with Topuria. This fight is one of those that you would like to give a verdict to clean your hands and when the result comes to show a face of complacency, it is really hard to opt for one side or the other.
