With UFC 308 only just around the corner, Ilia Topuria seems hellbent on starting as many feuds as possible with his fellow fighters – with some surprising names on either side of the Spaniard’s latest beef.
As fans countdown to what’s been rightly labeled as one of the most highly anticipated fights of the entire year, Ilia Topuria is finding himself battling not only Max Holloway but a ‘Notorious’ Irishman as well.
Conor McGregor comes to Max Holloway’s defence in fiery message to Topuria
Speaking on last night’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, Ilia Topuria mocked Max Holloway’s record in the featherweight division as he claimed that once you lose to Conor McGregor, you should step away from any world title aspirations for good.
“He got beat by Conor McGregor – when you get beaten by Conor McGregor, shut the f*** up, f*** just forget about it, when Conor McGregor beats you, [you should] forget about it.”
McGregor might have won that 2017 fight via a unanimous decision, but it’s worth a reminder that ‘Blessed’ would then go on an iconic 13-fight winning streak which included back-to-back knockouts of Jose Aldo that saw him claim UFC gold.
Luckily, Holloway wouldn’t even have to respond to the insult himself as the ‘Notorious’ former featherweight king came to his defense with a fiery message of his own on X.
“It’s not a bad shout hahaha but Holloway came back and earned it majorly. Two time FW champion. Attempted double champ. Is current BMF champ. Nah he the real deal. Always was, always is. Holloway is an always was, always is…
“1000% He became way better after losing to me. He actually became an all-time great after losing to me. This is a stellar fight folks! He took moves as well with him. He became ambidextrous after fighting me. He can fight in both stances now as good as each other.”
- UFC 308: Topuria sends furious message to the ‘snakes’ picking Holloway as he guarantees a first-round KO
Topuria and Holloway are set to throw down next weekend in the main event of UFC 308, with the Spanish-Georgian KO artist being a moderate favorite over the veteran Hawaiian.
“He will be very hard to catch for the little man,” noted McGregor on Holloway’s chance to re-capture UFC gold, before he sent one final warning to the 15-0 champion.
“Don’t walk into a crushing blow bro. He is strong too. And very experienced! 100%! BIG FIGHT FEEL FOR ME HERE, FOLKS! Oh yes Let’s go! #yawelcome #ufcabudhabi.”
Ilia Topuria offers to train with Conor McGregor for his next title fight
In that same interview with Helwani, Topuria would acknowledge that whilst he’ll likely never get the chance to fight McGregor in the UFC octagon, the two could find themselves training with each other in 2025.
“That’s never going to happen, never. How?! I’m the world champion and he’s not even in the rankings, but we can do something if he wants… For my next training camp for my next fight, I invite him, and I invite him [to train] with Dan Hooker and they can do two-and-a-half one, two-and-a-half another.
“I change them each like every round, we can do that. An official fight is impossible and at this point, I have much bigger fights [available] than Conor McGregor… Conor McChicken.”
Whilst such a training session would be incredible to witness, it’s never going to happen; with McGregor taking to social media just a few hours later to announce that Topuria’s nickname will be changed from ‘El Matador’ to ‘The Puppy’.
“Georgia does not have bullfighting. His prior nickname is terminated. He is now ‘The Puppy’ which is a good nickname [because] Everybody likes puppies.”
Topuria vs Holloway goes down on October 26, live from the UAE.
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