UFC 308's Violent Changing Of The Guard

The UFC brought some of their brightest stars to Abu Dhabi this past weekend. We were gifted a horrifying changing of the guard in the main and co-main events. Today we’re going to talk about where and how the best work was done.

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Now let’s get to today’s piece.

Fighting is not like other sports. The old teams don’t fade and fall into more comfortable positions with reduced playing time. In combat sports, old champions have their limbs disfigured, chins cracked, and winning records ripped away from them by their younger counterparts.

The young have to feast on the old for a new champion’s name to grow.

At UFC 308 we saw this play out twice in one night with elite fan favorites. Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria defended his belt by being the first ever to knockout Max Holloway. Let’s look at how he did it.

Topuria is already on his way to being an all time great. He has the speed, power, and technique to knockout everyone in the weight class.

In this fight with Holloway, Topuria surprised myself and many others by returning to his grappling early in the fight.

Topuria is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Seven of his first eight wins were submissions. But the really story of this fight and Topuria’s UFC career is how he’s refined his boxing to become an all around nightmare.

Before this weekend, Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkansovski and battered Josh Emmet all over the cage. In those three fights, and really all of his UFC contests, Topuria showed where he does his best work. On the black line.

Watch what happens to Max once Topuria gets him closer to the fence.

This sequence is really a microcosm of the whole fight and the weapons both men were trying to use. Holloway was trying to stay long. He would jab and lean, move laterally to get away, and when Topuria approached he wasn’t afraid of stomping on his leg.

Topuria would circle to cut Holloway off and get him closer to the fence. If Holloway tried to plant and throw, Topuria would leg kick through his thigh. When the cage got closer to Holloway’s back he would skip to the side so he didn’t get stuck eating flurries or taken down like we saw earlier. But that lateral movement ended up playing right into Topuria’s hands.

Topuria hits hard. He thuds in the pocket. But those thuds become concussive blows when his opponents exit the pocket or try to move to the side to escape his pressure.

This fight was that rare contest where both men’s weapons were working. Topuria and Holloway hurt one another and forced the other man to elevate the other’s game for the viewer’s benefit.

If there is anything you might feel other than surprise, I’d bet it’s regret and discontent. No one save Topuria’s corner wanted to see Holloway get knocked out.

The Hawaiian former featherweight champion is a fan favorite. A playful athlete who grew up in the cage but never lost the boyish humor and charm that endeared him to the media and fans alike.

I’m happy to have seen the technical brilliance that played out for those two and a half rounds. I could have done without having to watch the older legend wake up to the fact that the young upstart opposite him and had just finished feasting on his legacy.

This makes two violent knockouts in a row over UFC legends for Topuria. Looking forward, I have no idea who’s going to give him a tough fight.

I’m not confident that Diego Lopes has the gas tank to go for five rounds against him. Neither Movsar Evloev nor Aljamain Sterling seem to have the finishing ability to threaten him and get him out of the fight before he finds their chin. Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega can’t take his punches at this stage in their career. It’s too early for Topuria to go up in weight, but I honestly have no idea who’s going to stand-up to him at featherweight.

Most of my attention was focused on Khamzat Chimaev going into UFC 308. In last week’s preview we noted two things:

1. Chimaev does his best work once he’s attacking from cross body

2. Robert Whittaker probably won’t stop the shot so he needs to keep Chimaev’s hands open so Chimaev can’t climb to Whittaker’s hips

Within the first minute we saw both of these elements come into play.

It’s not like Whittaker wasn’t game. He was able to hand fight and get back to his feet. The problem was Khamzat was always one step ahead of him by chaining his attacks.

The shocking end came near the final minute of the first round. Whittaker tapped as soon as Chimaev locked his hands around his face.

Many, including myself, were confused by the speed of the submission. Chimaev hardly hand his hands closed and Whittaker was tapping. After the fight we learned why.

Whittaker’s teeth were literally pushed back off of the row. I’ve literally never seen an injury like this.

Before we get off of this card there is one important thing we can contrast from this specific fight. Now that we’ve reviewed Chimaev’s win, let’s look at a sequence from the Fight of the Night between Myktybek Orolbai and Mateusz Rębecki.

Because Rębecki didn’t do anything to disrupt Orolbai’s base, Orolbai was able to stand and wrestle back up into him. This is a direct contrast to how Chimaev constantly looks to insert the near hook on his opponents.

Chimaev hooks the near leg so he can disrupt his opponent’s base, maintain chest to back connection, and keep attacking. Click here if you want to read the full breakdown on Khamzat Chimaev’s grappling.

Rębecki’s overeagerness lost him the position and could have cost him the fight. As grapplers continue to get better at turtling, the ones that dominate the positional battle will be the ones who’s arms and legs can move independently to disrupt their opponent’s base and hold the torso.

Two interesting grapplers brushing up against title shots are fighting this weekend in Edmonton, Alberta. Amir Albazi returns against Brandon Moreno and Erin Blanchfield fights Rose Namajunas.

More importantly, this card is also the first that will use the UFC’s new rules. That means fighters can now throw 12-6 elbows as well as kick or knee fighters whose hands are on the floor. I’m fascinated to see how this impacts grappling in the UFC.

But next week the most innovative event in grappling returns. If you want to read about that, as well as some favorites I could see winning the event, check out the premium section below 👇.