Alexander Volkanovski

In the end, Ilia Topuria did exactly what he said he'd do.

The featherweight champion was back in action in the main event of Saturday's UFC 308 card in Abu Dhabi, defending his belt against one of the best fighters in the division's history, Max Holloway. Ahead of time, Topuria repeatedly told us that he would become the first man to knock Holloway out — something the likes of Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje have all failed to do — and as doubtful as it seemed, he did it.

He did it in style, clobbering his challenger with a sizzling left hook.

"I don't know what to say," Topuria said his stunning knockout win, which occurred midway through the third round. "To beat a legend like Max Holloway, I can't believe it. I followed his whole career.

"I represent the new generation and I hope I can be a small portion of the representation that he's been for me."

While Topuria ultimately won his fight with Holloway in emphatic fashion, the fight was close through the first two rounds. Many viewers seemed to score the first round for Holloway, who had some great success with his jab and his kicks to the body early on.

However, the tide began to turn in Topuria's favor in the second, and in the third, he was even more aggressive — with decisive results.

"Not at all man," Holloway told commentator Daniel Cormier when he was asked if anything about Topuria's performance surprised him. "He just landed a shot, and I guess it hurt much more than I thought it did.

"I felt a great till I didn't. That's the sport. Hat's off to him. No excuses. I had a great camp... He was the better man tonight."

Being the first man to knock out a legend like Max Holloway is a monumental achievement for Topuria, who is still just 27 years old — which also happens to make him the youngest active champion in the UFC.

Amazingly, it's not the first such achievement on his resume either. Earlier this year, Topuria scored a similarly stunning knockout win over another living MMA legend, Alexander Volkanovski — that time in the first round.

For Topuria to close out 2024 with knockout wins over Volkanovski and Holloway in the rear-view mirror is simply more impressive than can be described.

His wins over the two legends will also ensure he's a big betting favorite heading into his next fight — whomever he ends up fighting.

The top contender at the moment would seem to be the No. 3-ranked Diego Lopes, who is fresh off a lopsided decision win over former two-time title challenger Brian Ortega. He was in Abu Dhabi as an understudy if Holloway or Topuria failed to make it to the Octagon, which implies he is still in position for a title shot now that the fight is over.

However, Volkanovski also seems to be in prime position for a rematch with Topuria. The former champ, still ranked No. 1 in the weight class, defended his belt five times before losing it to the current champ, and has been calling for a shot at redemption on that basis since. Heading into UFC 308, it seemed somewhat unlikely that he'd get the opportunity before the streaking Lopes, but he was invited into the Octagon during Topuria's post-fight interview, which implies the UFC likes the idea.

One way or the other, there's no question the future is bright for Topuria.

The Georgian, who now lives in Spain, has been a star since he knocked out Volkanovski earlier this year. Shortly after winning the belt with that performance, he received a hero's welcome at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in front of 85,000 Real Madrid fans. Soon thereafter, he was awarded the Order of Honor by the President of Georgia inside Tbilisi's Orbeliani Palace. He is loved in both of his home countries, and his star will undoubtedly burn brighter than ever after his stunning knockout win over Holloway — so much so that he may even headline the UFC's planned debut in Spain next year.

Whomever, wherever, and whenever he fights next, he has single-handedly ushered in a new era in the featherweight division.

Alexander Volkanovski can relate to Dustin Poirier.

The Australian featherweight has lost both of his fights against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, a fate that Poirier met on Saturday at UFC 302 after a fifth-round submission choke against Makhachev.

And now Volkanovski is eying a matchup with Poirier (3:00 mark).

"If the timing works maybe me and Dustin can have a good fight," he said. "I know he just wants good, fun fights and we have a lot of respect for each other and I think that would be a massive fight. That's something I'd be willing to do while I'm waiting for that featherweight title. Maybe a lightweight fight against someone like Poirier would be great. So you heard it here first."

Volkanovski, 35, is 26-4 in his career, but three of those losses have come in his past four fights. He was knocked out by punches in two rounds by Ilia Topuria in his last fight back in February at UFC 298, with the featherweight title on the line.

He previously held the featherweight title himself after defeating Max Holloway at UFC 245 in Dec. 2019. He defended that title five times, including twice against Holloway, before losing it to Topuria.

Poirier, 35, is 30-9 in his career but is just 2-3 in his last three fights, including a pair of lightweight title bid losses against Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 in Dec. 2021 and Makhachev on Saturday.

He's considered to be arguably the greatest UFC fighter to never win a title, falling short in three title fights during his career, and he certainly made Makhachev work for his money.

"He did very good," the lightweight champ told reporters after the fight. "He defended my takedown and gave me a hard time."

It's possible that Saturday was Poirier's final rodeo.

"I know I can compete with the rest of these guys, but if I do, am I fighting just to fight?" he told reporters Saturday. "I got a little girl and a family at home, but I got to see [what's next]. This could be it."

If it isn't the end, however, a fight with Volkanovski would be an enticing next chapter.

UFC 298 brought a major shakeup to the UFC's featherweight division. Ilia Topuria ended Alexander Volkanovski's four-year reign over the 145-pound division with a second-round knockout win in the main event from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

El Matador found a way to win the belt with a massive right hook that floored Volkanovski and kicked off a new era in the 145-pound division.

As one would expect from two high-level strikers, the first round started with neither fighter really taking over the bout early. Both loaded information on their opponent and beat up the lead leg of their opponent.

Whatever information Topuria downloaded he was able to use to devastating effect in the second round. In one combination, Topuria took down one of the greatest featherweights of all time and became the new champion.

The decisive win wasn't a surprise to Topuria he predicted his big moment and came through in a big way.

Topuria's entire rise to champion took place while Volkanovski held the belt. When Volkanovski initially beat Max Holloway in December 2019 to become champion, Topuria wasn't even in the organization.

Since then, the Spanish fighter has only needed seven fights to capture UFC gold.

Topuria has had no shortage of confidence in his rise to become champ. He recently told Michael Bisping of his plans to give current bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley a crack at the title, but not before he sees "Suga" handle some business in his own weight class.

"Here's the thing, I'm gonna beat a guy who beat everyone in my division," Topuria said (h/t MMA News). "So I don't gonna have to prove much more in my division because I'm going to beat such a great champion who dominate the whole division. But he [O'Malley] has to prove a little bit more in his division. He got 'Chito', he got Merab, if he gets both of them done, then we can do it."

The one thing Topuria might be overlooking is that most champions with Volkanovski's track record are usually granted immediate rematches.

Perhaps Volkanovski will not be interested in doing that. The cut down to 145 pounds gets more challenging as he continues to age and he's had two fights at lightweight now.

But there's a good chance Topuria is going to have to confirm himself as the true king at 145 pounds by beating Volkanovski again.