Ilia Topuria entered the UFC 308 main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi last October as the featherweight champion. It was his first title defense after winning the title by knocking out  Alexander Volkanovski at  UFC 298 . “El Matador” faced former titleholder  Max Holloway .  In the 33 professional fights leading up to UFC 308, no one had ever knocked Holloway out.