UFC 308: 5 Preliminary Fights to Watch

UFC 308 is set to go down Saturday from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main event will see featherweight champion Ilia Topuria look to make his first title defense against former king Max Holloway. Topuria shook the MMA world when he upset longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski via KO; Volkanovski has three wins over Holloway. Holloway will look to turn the top of the featherweight division into a proper triangle in his challenge.

Robert Whittaker is set to take on Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight bout in the co-main event. The match-up is likely a title eliminator to determine who will fight the winner of Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland; however, the next middleweight title fight is yet to be booked.

The rest of the UFC 308 main card features Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic in what should be a title eliminator at light heavyweight; Lerone Murphy taking on Dan Ige at featherweight; and Shara Magomedov fighting Armen Petrosyan at middleweight.

Topuria, Chimaev, Murphy and Magomedov are all undefeated, while Ankalaev only has one loss.

The UFC 308 preliminary card features its own share of undefeated prospects, longtime contenders and fun fights. Here are five UFC 308 bouts to watch.

Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira

Aslan, who is 1-0 in the UFC and 13-1 overall, is set to welcome the 11-0 Cerqueira to the Octagon. The Brazilian is set to make his debut after a run of success in the Demo Fight promotion.

Despite a deep preliminary card featuring a former champion, longtime veterans and other top prospects, the UFC opted to headline the UFC 308 preliminary card with two men with one UFC bout between the two of them. There is likely a method to the UFC’s madness here: Cerequeira has finished all but one of his 11 wins (eight by knockout), Aslan has finished all 13 of his victories by knockout. Simply put, the UFC is expecting fireworks and a finish here at light heavyweight.

Given a prime slot on the prelims, all eyes will be on Aslan and Cerqueira. One of them could emerge as a top prospect at 205 pounds with an emphatic win. Don’t blink.

Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos

The UFC 308 prelims get a former champion. Dos Anjos, the former lightweight king and current top-15 lightweight, is returning to the welterweight division for a match-up with Neal. “RDA” has had success in both weight classes, narrowly losing an interim welterweight title fight to Colby Covington years back.

Dos Anjos, who turns 40 years old on fight day, has fought a who’s who of former champions and title challengers over his long UFC career. He is underrated in the “anyone, anytime, anywhere” discussion, having fought elite fighters of all styles and backgrounds. After fighting a wrestler in Mateusz Gamrot at lightweight in his last bout, he will now fight a welterweight known for his striking.

Neal lost a close split decision to Ian Garry his last bout and would have taken the Irish fighter’s ‘0’ had a second judge saw the fight his way. Before that, he put forth a spirited effort in a submission loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov, the next welterweight title challenger. After fighting two elite prospects, Neal gets a chance to return to the win column over a legend and former champion in what is a great opportunity for his resume.

Neal will likely stand and trade with “RDA.” Dos Anjos’s strategy will be more interesting, as he can strike and wrestle effectively depending on the match-up. Either way, fans are in for a treat between two elite fighters.

Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki

Orolbai enters this lightweight contest with a lot of hype. The Kyrgyzstan native is 13-1-1 as a professional and 2-0 in the UFC with wins over Uros Medic and Elves Brener. The well-rounded Orolbai has six wins by T/KO and five by submission.

Rebecki had a lot of hype himself before a crushing TKO upset loss to Diego Ferreira. The Pole had started his UFC career 3-0 with wins over Nick Fiore, Loik Radzhabov, and Roosevelt Roberts before suffering the second loss of his pro career.

Rebecki could earn back all the shine he lost and then some if he is able to defeat Orolbai – especially if he can finish him. Given the lightweight division’s depth, neither man is likely to earn a top-15 opponent off a win, but they would be that much closer to the opportunity. The fight is still a contest between two highly-skilled combatants and should be a chess match.

Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira

Magomedov got back in the win column against Warlley Alves after losses to Caio Borralho and Sean Strickland – Strickland would go on to defeat Israel Adesanya and become the UFC’s middleweight champion. Magomedov, still a promising prospect, draws another prospect in Ferreira, who is 3-1 in the UFC.

Ferreira has wins over Gregory Rodrigues, Phil Hawes and Dustin Stoltzfus.

Both middleweights are finishers: Magomedov has 14 T/KO wins and six submissions in his 26 professional victories; Ferreira has a 100% finishing rate with nine T/KOs.

This should be an exciting bout for as long as it lasts, and the victor could find himself with a top-15 opponent next.

Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo

Basharat holds a perfect 12-0 record heading into his bantamweight clash with Hugo. Basharat has picked up UFC wins over the resurgent Taylor Lapilus, Kleydson Rodrigues, and Da’Mon Blackshear.

Hugo has an impressive 25-4 record himself – he made good on his UFC debut against Pedro Falcao.

Hugo, despite having more than twice the amount of professional fights, is very much a UFC prospect himself, even at the prime age of 31. The promotion did him no favors throwing him against Basharat almost instantaneously, but as the large underdog, Hugo has less to lose, and the pressure to meet expectations is on Basharat, who many consider a blue-chip prospect.

If Basharat can dismantle Hugo, it’s time to give him an opponent near the top-15 – especially when you consider his win over Lapilus.

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