UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has made a chilling promise that would leave fan favourite Max Holloway on the wrong side of history.

Topuria defends his title for the first time in the main event of UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi against Holloway as the two collide for the first time.

Topuria will face Holloway in the main event of UFC 308Getty

Both men are coming off explosive finishes in their last fights: Topuria dethroned Alexander Volkanovski with a sickening second-round knockout at UFC 298 while Holloway produced one of the most iconic stoppages to beat Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.

With ten seconds to go, Holloway pointed to the middle of the octagon and beckoned Gaethje to swing for the fences until the final bell.

Holloway crumpled Gaethje with just one second to spare as he claimed the BMF title along with $600,000 (£464,612) in performance bonuses.

Pointing to the middle of the canvas has become somewhat of a signature move for Holloway in his fights as he relishes the chaos and risk of throwing wildly.

However, Holloway’s trademark often comes in the final ten seconds of bouts to offer a grandstand finish.

Instead, Topuria wants to flip the script and had a simple message for fans: don’t blink.

“I feel very excited, to be honest,” Topuria said during an episode of UFC 308 Embedded.

“No-one can take his lights out and I feel very excited to be the first man to knock him out.

“Actually, if he stays in the middle of the octagon, I will knock him out in the first ten seconds and you’re going to see the fastest knockout in UFC history.

“Just don’t blink in the first ten seconds because it’s going to be the most exciting first ten seconds of UFC and MMA history.”

During his last fight against Gaethje, Holloway pointed to the floorGetty

It will take something special for Topuria to stop Holloway, with the Hawaiian’s first and only stoppage defeat coming in 2012 when he tapped out against Dustin Poirier.

Since then, Holloway has lost six times, with all coming via decision.

Topuria’s dream of securing the fastest UFC knockout in history is also a bold one given the record stands at just five seconds of the first round.

The record belongs to fan favourite Jorge Masvidal, who required just five seconds to knock Ben Askren out at UFC 239 in 2019.

Masvidal and Askren had engaged in a bitter war of wards leading up to their welterweight showdown.

But Masvidal would have the last laugh when he perfectly anticipated how Askren would begin the bout.

Askren, an Olympic wrestler, immediately shot for the takedown but Masvidal read him like a book and rendered his rival unconscious with a flying knee.

Despite his iconic moment, Masvidal went on to win just one of his next five fights and retired from the sport in April 2023.

Time will soon tell if Topuria can do the same against Holloway on Saturday.