What’s next for the stars of UFC 308?

The UFC was in Abu Dhabi, Dubai on Saturday for a solid UFC 308 fight card.

In the main event, Ilia Topuria was defending his featherweight title against Max Holloway. The co-main event saw Robert Whittaker taking on Khamzat Chimaev in a highly-anticipated middleweight bout.

Ultimately, it was Topuria who became the first person to knockout Holloway as he scored a third-round TKO win to defend his belt for the first time. Chimaev, meanwhile, submitted Whittaker in the first round for the biggest win of his career. Following UFC 308, here is what I think should be next for the four fighters involved in the two big fights.

Ilia Topuria

UFC 308 may be known as the event that Ilia Topuria became a superstar. Topuria was on the cusp of stardom after his KO win over Alexander Volkanovski. He followed it up with a knockout win over Holloway and was the first person to do so.

Topuria should return some in the first quarter of 2025 and his next fight should be a rematch against Volkanovski. Volkanovski was a long-reigning champ and deserves a rematch, so that is the fight to make, and even Topuria said so after UFC 308.

Max Holloway

Max Holloway was looking to become a two-time featherweight champ but he came up short as he was knocked out by Ilia Topuria at UFC 308.

Holloway said he plans to take off some time as he wants to return next summer at International Fight Week. When the Hawaiian does return, he should go back up to 155lbs and a logical next fight is against Dan Hooker. The BMF belt could be up for grabs in what would be an all-action bout.

Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev picked up the biggest win of his career at UFC 308 with his first-round submission win over Robert Whittaker.

Chimaev silenced any doubters he may have had. It’s clear the undefeated fighter has to get the next middleweight title shot. Chimaev is the real deal and there is nothing else for him to prove after he dominated Whittaker in that fashion.

Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker was looking to earn another crack at UFC gold. However, he fell shot as he lost in the first round by Chimaev at UFC 308.

Whittaker should take some time off to heal up after the nasty submission loss which moved his teeth in. When he returns, Whittaker should fight Roman Dolidze as the former champ looks to defend his spot as a top-five middleweight.