UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria plans on knocking out Max Holloway in October, ‘BMF’ title or not.
‘El Matador’ hasn’t been in the cage since his title clash with Alexander Volkanovski in February. The bout was Ilia Topuria’s first fight for UFC gold, and he made it count. It took less than two rounds for the Spanish fighter to hand ‘The Great’ a knockout loss. In the process, ending Volkanovski’s stranglehold over 145 pounds.
At Abu Dhabi in October, Ilia Topuria will look to make his first title defense against Max Holloway. For his part, ‘Blessed’ is fresh off a trip up to lightweight in April against Justin Gaethje. At UFC 300, Holloway handed ‘The Highlight’ a fifth-round knockout loss. In the process, the Hawaiian became the ceremonial ‘BMF’ titleholder.
For months, Ilia Topuria stated that he would only fight Max Holloway if the ceremonial championship was on the line. However, with the fight now booked, it seems that he didn’t get his wish. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, the UFC featherweight champion discussed the possibility of fighting for the ‘BMF’ title.
(via Zuffa LLC)
Ilia Topuria discusses UFC 308 title fight against BMF champion Max Holloway
There, Ilia Topuria confirmed that Max Holloway’s title won’t be on the line at UFC 308. However, that doesn’t really mean a whole lot to the featherweight champion. Speaking in the interview, Topuria promised to knock out the Hawaiian challenger, whether the ‘BMF’ title is on the line or not.
“No, the BMF title is not going to be on the line,” Ilia Topuria stated in the interview. “To be honest, I don’t care. They took that decision and at the end of the day it’s like, when I’m going to beat him, he can’t say he’s a BMF or however they want to call him. I’m just concentrating on my title defense and that’s it. I don’t care about anything else.” (h/t MMAMania)
“What makes me so excited about this fight is that no one could knock him out. There’s no way I’m not going to knock him out. I will be the first one to knock him out because every time I watch him fight I’m like, ‘I’m way better than him.’ If you put me with him in kickboxing or boxing, even in a chess match, I beat him.”
What do you make of these comments from the UFC featherweight champion? Do you believe Ilia Topuria will knock out Max Holloway in October?
