Israel Adesanya gives immediate live reaction to Ilia Topuria beating Max Holloway, praises Khamzat Chimaev
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was impressed by the performances of Ilia Topuria and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308.
In the main event of the recently concluded pay-per-view showcase, Topuria, the reigning featherweight champion, successfully defended his title against former champion Max Holloway, knocking him out in the third round. This victory added to Topuria's impressive record, which now stands at 16-0.
Meanwhile, Khamzat Chimaev delivered a spectacular performance in the co-main event, submitting former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in just under four minutes. With this victory, Chimaev improved his record to 14-0, establishing himself as a formidable contender in the middleweight division.
Following his win at UFC 308, Topuria claimed that Alexander Volkanovski deserves the title shot next. 'El Matador' dethroned the long-reigning Australian with a knockout win at UFC 298. Volkanovski joined Topuria inside the cage and the pair respectfully shook over the idea of the potential rematch.
Adesanya was surprised by Chimaev's quick submission win against Whittaker and said:
"What! Already? Wow. Something about the jaw that was too quick. F*ck... dislocated jaw from the pressure."
While reacting to Topuria's win, he said:
"Wow! Wow! You got to respect it. That's what I said. I could not see him doing it to [Volkanovski] and I didn't see him doing it to Max [Holloway]."
Sharing his thoughts on a potential rematch between Topuria and Volkanovski, Adesanya added:
"I love this sh*t. Let's go boys. I know Volk. He's going to train his a*s off. Volk is going to become the greatest Volk we've ever seen. I know Volk... I mean pretty much what we suspected [with the co-main event]. Khamzat is relentless with [the takedowns] and he caught Rob with a submission. But I did not expect him to break his fu*king jaw. Good on him, he's in the mix now. He fought a legit middleweight."
Check out Israel Adesanya's full reaction to UFC 308 below:
Israel Adesanya breaks down Ilia Topuria's win against Max Holloway at UFC 308
Ilia Topuria promised to become the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway leading up to UFC 308. He delivered on that promise with an emphatic third-round knockout win and made the first defense of his featherweight title in spectacular fashion.
With this victory, Topuria improved his record to 16-0 with 14 finishes. The first Georgian-Spanish champion in UFC history also won the Performance of the Night bonus for his impressive display.
Speaking about Topuria's win in the aforementioned reaction video, Israel Adesanya said:
"The main event was crazy. Look at the punch itself that finished [Holloway]... the rotation on it, the way he set it up. The way he was composed leading up to it. He also ate some oblique kicks that had him hurt. He was invested in the calf kicks as well. For me, this is why I love the game because anything is possible. Congratulations to Ilia... He beat two of the greatest featherweights of all time back to back by knockout."