Topuria KOs Holloway, Then Trades Jabs With McGregor
Ilia Topuria’s first featherweight title defense is complete. He knocked out Max Holloway at 1:34 of round three in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26, 2024, retaining the belt and ending Holloway’s run without a knockout loss.
Before fight night, Topuria’s title defense drew attention both for the matchup with former champion Max Holloway and for a public exchange with Conor McGregor. The result settled the immediate question: Topuria kept his title with a third-round knockout.
The online exchange
In the weeks before the bout, McGregor publicly backed Holloway and traded remarks with Topuria. The back-and-forth added noise around the event, while Holloway remained the champion’s direct opponent. Sherdog’s contemporaneous report documented their exchange.
Topuria stops Holloway
Holloway brought a long record of durability into the fight. Topuria hurt him with a right hand in the third round, followed with a left hook that put him down, and continued with strikes until referee Marc Goddard stopped the contest at 1:34. The official event report lists the result and describes the finish.
The win was Topuria’s first defense of the featherweight title he had won earlier in 2024. It also made him the first fighter to stop Holloway by strikes. The pre-fight taunts became a footnote to a decisive performance against one of the division’s most accomplished champions.
Sources
- sherdog.com
- ufc.com
