The build-up to the UFC’s annual October pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi has picked up with a face-to-face interview between its two headliners.
The promotion will be back in the Middle East for the third time this year, and back inside the Etihad Arena just over two months on from UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov being staged at the venue.
This time, the Abu Dhabi crowd will be treated to championship stakes and one of the most highly anticipated fights of 2024 thus far, as featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria puts his gold on the line opposite legend Max Holloway.
Topuria, Holloway Verbally Spar Pre-UFC 308
In the months leading up to UFC 308, the pair set to collide in the main event have gone back and forth on social media and during their respective interviews.
And that trend continued weeks out from the Oct. 26 event, as “El Matador” and “Blessed” joined UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald for a virtual face-to-face interaction.
Fitzgerald wasn’t required too often, with Topuria and Holloway frequently abandoning questions to trade barbs at one another.
On the champ’s side, the Georgian-Spaniard dismissed Holloway’s boxing credentials and gave a critical review of his UFC 300 win over Justin Gaethje, branding the fight “boring” and the last-second knockout absent of technique.
Holloway’s rebuttals remained consistent throughout: we’ll see what happens on Oct. 26.
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