Ilia Topuria has fired back at Max Holloway and claims Brian Ortega could be getting the next featherweight title shot.
In the lead-up to Holloway’s UFC 300 fight against Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt, the Hawaiian took shots at Topuria. He claimed there was a reason that the UFC never offered him Topuria before he got a title shot and called him questionable.
“Questionable. That’s it. Questionable. Everybody keeps asking me, what do I think of Topuria? He’s questionable. I’ll fight him. Go ask him that question. Ask him that question about me. At the end of the day, UFC, I always want to fight for the title, I always want to do this, a lot of contenders, they gave me a lot of up-and-coming contenders, and there’s one that didn’t come my way. You can ask UFC about that, you can ask him the question,” Holloway said at UFC 300 media day.
Now, after Max Holloway scored a fifth-round knockout win over Justin Gaethje to win the BMF title, Ilia Topuria and ‘Blessed’ have engaged in some heated social media exchanges, with ‘El Matador’ suggesting he will only fight Holloway if the BMF title is on the line.
Holloway reacted to Topuria’s stipulation by suggesting it was very “un-BMF”, and now the Spaniard has clapped back.
The only thing questionable about me is whether I finish you by ko or submission.I just beat the guy that beat you not once, not twice, but 3 times. You now have the one thing that keeps you relevant and that would grant you a money fight, the BMF belt. I no longer fight for…
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) April 19, 2024
“The only thing questionable about me is whether I finish you by ko or submission.I just beat the guy that beat you not once, not twice, but 3 times. You now have the one thing that keeps you relevant and that would grant you a money fight, the BMF belt. I no longer fight for money but for legacy. Winning that belt while holding my title will cement me as the first,” Topuria wrote on X.
“The first to hold both belts. The first to knock out volk and what most certainly will happen when we fight, the first one to put you to sleep. Something to calm you down is this: God doesn’t shame anyone. You will have a worthy defeat against a champion who will be remembered for eternity. I decide who, when, and where. If you don’t like the terms I’m sure Ortega will oblige,” Topuria added.
Although Ilia Topuria is threatening to not give Max Holloway the next title shot, most fans are hoping that bout is next. After Holloway’s performance at UFC 300, it’s one of the biggest fights to make, and one many fans are looking forward to. The lead-up to the potential title fight should also be filled with plenty of trash talk as we have already seen, which only adds to the intrigue.
