Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria will finally trade punches at UFC 308 with the featherweight title on the line. With a few weeks to the bout, both fighters have developed a rather interesting rivalry. Holloway will aim to regain the title he lost in 2019. The fight was a long time coming, and according to Holloway, UFC was the main reason for this delay.
Ilia Topuria’s title run consisted of dominant victories over Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell, etc. Though he finished the former champion Alexander Volkanovski via KO, Holloway always believed the Spaniard was protected by the UFC. In a recent video, Holloway doubled down on his claims and mentioned that UFC deliberately never let him fight Topuria in the past.
I believe that the UFC made me fight every other contender at 145 except for him for a reason and we are here now and I’m gonna prove it. Come October 26th, why UFC was shelling him away from me.
Max Holloway via his YouTube channel
Since Topuria’s debut, Holloway has fought Calvin Kattar, Arnold Allen, and Yair Rodríguez but never got the opportunity to fight Topuria. Holloway has previously mentioned that the UFC didn’t want him to ruin Topuria’s title run which happened at UFC 298. Topuria on the other hand was always eager to fight Holloway.
Max Holloway believes that the UFC was “shelling” Ilia Topuria away from him 😳
“I believe that the UFC made me fight every other contender at 145 except for [Ilia] for a reason…
I’m gonna prove come October 26th why the UFC was shelling him away from me.”
🎥 YT /… pic.twitter.com/GXuCr2znT1
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 17, 2024
The rivalry finally got a green light after Holloway had his buzzer-beater knockout at UFC 300. Before it was officially announced, both fighters got into a series of trash talking which added to the excitement. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard will aim to hold onto the title when they compete in Abu Dhabi. Going into the UFC 308, the hype around this fight is second to none.
Max Holloway questions Ilia Topuria’s fight IQ
Ilia Topuria is regarded as one of the most talented strikers on the current UFC roster. Joe Rogan recently stated that Topuria has refined the art of boxing, making his matchup with Max Holloway intriguing. Holloway considers himself the finest boxer in the UFC, and fans anticipate a classic striking matchup between the two.
Max Holloway vs. Ilia Topuria (via X)Holloway has been in the division for a long time and has fought some of the biggest legends of the sport. Only Alexander Volkanovski gave trouble to prime ‘Blessed.’
Topuria believes he’s levels above everybody else and plans to continue his title reign intact. In a recent interview, the ‘Blessed’ talked about the weaknesses of Topuria;
He’s a great fighter. He’s got power, he’s got speed…but he might be lacking a little bit in his fight IQ.
Max Holloway via ESPN MMA
Holloway is well known for his cardio and chin and is the favorite to win the fight as per Alexander Volkanovski. Although he has less power, it’s enough to put the lights out on his opponents. Holloway is confident and has a humongous momentum behind him going into UFC 308. Only time will tell if he hands the first professional loss in Topuria’s career.
