Alexander Volkanovski is sure Ilia Topuria would lose to Max Holloway in a title fight. He laid out the reasons in a recent interview after losing his belt to the Spaniard at UFC 298.
Alexander Volkanovski recently talked about Ilia Topuria with Fox Sports Australia. One of the top contenders in line for a title shot against Topuria other than Volkanovski is Max Holloway. Discussing his chances with the current featherweight champion, Volkanovski said:
I also believe Max can go out there and make that fight look easy. … I think Max wins that fight. Topuria is very dangerous, a great fighter. But I don’t think he’s as good as he thinks he is… I know I can do it, too. And I’m also quite confident Max can too, which is why I didn’t want him fighting Topuria before I did.
Alexander Volkanovski via Fox Sports Australia
Volkanovski did not take Topuria’s credit away for beating him at UFC 298. But he argued that he had come from a knockout loss and did not fight his best fight. Volkanovski believes that Ilia Topuria still has a lot to prove as a champion. He cannot simply ditch the division and call for Conor McGregor or Islam Makhachev.
Alexander Volkanovski believes that Max Holloway would beat Ilia Topuria, and says he would also do much better in a rematch:
“I know I can do a much better job. I didn’t fight my fight and he capitalised, so credit to him. But I know I can go out there and make that fight look… pic.twitter.com/KFB8U9AbVT
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 1, 2024
Ilia Topuria has refused to fight everybody and wants a shot in the lightweight division. But the ones who are pushing for a fight the most and are likely contenders in the near future are Volkanovski and Topuria. Sean O’Malley also wants to have a go against Topuria and could be in the discussion with his bantamweight title on the line.
Alexander Volkanovski does not believe Ilia Topuria deserves a shot at the BMF title
Ilai Topuria had previously made an interesting proposal for fighting Max Holloway. He said that if he was going to fight a title fight against Holloway he wanted the BMF title thrown into the mix too. Max Holloway had recently epically won the BMF title with a viral KO victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.
Ilia Topuria agrees to fight Max Holloway on one condition (via X/ Sports Illustrated)However, Volkanovski is against the idea. He said that Topuria’s resume is not strong enough and he needs to fight better opponents before he gets a say in such opportunities.
Of course, he hasn’t. There’s no way. That’s just silly. He’s not in a position to call any shots, same as he’s not in the position to call out Islam Makhachev. Of course, I get him wanting to do that. I did it myself, but only after having done the work.
Alexander Volkanovski via Fox Sports Australia
Ilia Topuria remains adamant that Max Holloway needs to put his BMF belt on the line if they fight, and says he’d rather fight Brian Ortega or Alexander Volkanovski if he doesn’t:
“You [Max] are the BMF champion, you have the opportunity to fight for the title. What are you… pic.twitter.com/if34Nfaoil
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 30, 2024
Ilia Topuria is only seven fights into his UFC career. According to Volkanovski he still has a lot more to prove. Fans were expecting a rematch between Topuria and Volkanovski this August at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. However, Topuria has reportedly denied the fight. It will be interesting to see when the two fighters cross paths again in the UFC octagon.
!
