Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway will come face to face at UFC 308 with the featherweight title on the line. Both fighters are riding an incredible momentum, which has increased the anticipation of the bout tenfold. Ahead of the fight, both fighters did their first interview together, and it was as entertaining as fans had expected.
The trash-talking between Topuria and Holloway has been going on since UFC 300. The momentum was carried to the recent ESPN MMA interview, where both fighters exchanged various insults. During the interaction, Topuria promised to send Holloway to retirement and offered a free old-age home along with Alexander Volkanovski.
I already open a home for old people where Volk already has his room, I have another one for you . So, I’m gonna put you right there after October 26, sponsored by Invictus…All for free, don’t worry, no expenses.
Ilia Topuria via ESPN MMA
This comment made more sense as it corresponded with Volkanovski’s recent old-age skit. Volk introduced the old-man character during his press conference against Topuria. Unfortunately, it backfired as he got knocked out and lost his featherweight title to the ‘El Matador’ at UFC 298. Since then, the Aussie legend has not competed inside the octagon.
Ilia Topuria says he’s gonna send Max Holloway to an old-folks home along with Alexander Volkanovski 😳
“All for free, don’t worry. No expenses.”
🎥 @espnmma #UFC308 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/qoKTF7jZjj
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 10, 2024
Volk and Holloway dominated the featherweight division for many years, fighting each other thrice. Ilia Topuria, on the other hand, represents the new generation and wishes to extend his reign for as long as possible. The featherweight champion also intends to go up to fight Islam Makhachev for double champion status. However, Topuria has to go through the fan-favorite Holloway before that.
Max Holloway responds to criticism about his weight
Max Holloway has fought most of his UFC career in the featherweight division and has participated in many championship bouts. However, the ‘Blessed’ has also occasionally moved up and shared the octagon with the top lightweights. His last performance at UFC 300 against Justin Gaethje was a testament to his capability as a lightweight.
For that fight, Holloway put on some mass and looked more buff than usual. Fans loved the transformation and felt Holloway should permanently shift to the lightweight division. As the Hawaiian fighter ages, many have shared concerns about his weight cut to reach the featherweight limit. Holloway, however, isn’t concerned about missing the mark.
The whole question about the last fight was weight. And now the whole question about this fight is the weight because of what we did in the last fight… I’ve never missed no weight in my whole career. And I ain’t planning on starting on to miss weight for this fight
Max Holloway via his YouTube channel
Max Holloway – who has never missed weight – isn’t paying attention to critics who think he should have stayed at lightweight instead of dropping back down to featherweight to challenge Ilia Topuria for the title. Via @BlessedMMA pic.twitter.com/sprP2petEP
— Clocked N’ Loaded (@ClockedNload) October 9, 2024
If someone misses the weight, top featherweight Deigo Lopes is believed to be on standby as a quick substitute. However, it is unclear if fans would appreciate it or not. Nevertheless, Topuria has guaranteed a knockout, and Holloway is confident in his cardio and chin. At UFC 306, all questions would be addressed.
