UFC 308 promised some of the biggest fights of the year and Abu Dhabi was certainly treated to some of the most impressive displays of 2024.
There was big wins from top to bottom but the two major talking points came from statement performances in the main and co-main events.
In the night's headliner, featherweight champion Ilia Topuria defended his title for the first time by stopping former champ Max Holloway in the third round.
It was a great back and forth battle but the power of "El Matador" made the difference, putting him front and centre for the fighter of the year award.
The co-main event saw the Khamzat Chimaev hype train finally enter the station as the undefeated middleweight submitted former champ Robert Whittaker in the first round.
After doing huge damage to Whittaker's jaw in just a few seconds, there's a real debate about whether Chimaev should be next to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title.
Talking of securing title shots, Magomed Ankalaev appeared to do that with his win over Aleksandar Rakić even if it wasn't the most emphatic victory.
The fight played out as a striking contest for the majority of the three rounds and despite some early success for his opponent, Ankalaev began to turn the tide.
Lerone Murphy secured another win over a ranked opponent when he overcame some serious adversity in the first round to defeat Dan Ige via unanimous decision.
Shara "Bullet" Magomedov helped set the tone for a great main card by producing one of the most unique knockouts in UFC history, throwing back-to-back spinning backfists to put a cherry on top of his great performance against Armen Petrosyan.
Check out the full results listed below:
Main card:
Ilia Topuria defeats Max Holloway by knockout at 1:34 of the third round
Khamzat Chimaev defeats Robert Whittaker via submission (face crank) at 3:34 of round one
Magomed Ankalaev defeats Aleksandar Rakić via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lerone Murphy defeats Dan Ige via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shara Magomedov defeats Armen Petrosyan by knockout at 4:52 of the second round
Prelims:
Ibo Aslan defeats Rafael Cerqueira via TKO (strikes) at :51 of the first round
Geoff Neal defeats Rafael Dos Anjos via TKO (injury) at 1:30 of the first round
Mateusz Rebecki defeats Myktybek Orolbai via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Abus Magomedov defeats Brunno Ferreira via submission (arm triangle) at 3:14 of round three
Kennedy Nzechukwu defeats Chris Barnett via TKO (strikes) at 4:27 of the first round
Farid Basharat defeats Victor Hugo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Ismail Naurdiev defeats Bruno Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Carlos Leal via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
