Holloway sees Topuria as nothing more than a Dollar Store Conor who’s now trying to appropriate his UFC 300 moment.
Ilia Topuria continues to challenge Max Holloway to stand and bang at the start of their UFC 308 title fight, and Max Holloway continues to refuse.
Holloway’s first refusal was because he’s the Baddest Mother F—er, not the Dumbest Mother F—er. After that he pointed out that his viral win from UFC 300 was incredibly dangerous, and you don’t just take the center to swang it out with anyone. An opponent’s got to earn it. And at Wednesday’s UFC 308 media day he said Topuria definitely did not.
“It just makes no sense,” Holloway said. “To me, I don’t think he deserves … you’ve got to earn that right. I don’t think he deserves that right. I mean, you guys know the guy he’s copycatting. This guy is a copycat down to his tattoos, to his aura, to the way he’s approaching fights. The guy is a copycat.”
The similarities bewtween Conor McGregor and Ilia Topuria
Fan boy @Topuriailia pic.twitter.com/79dlESY1Fx
— Mcgregor Forever (@mcgregorufc22) September 23, 2024
Holloway is referring to the suspicious similarities between Topuria’s tattoos and those of Conor McGregor. They are alike in some ways, but a chest piece and spine tattoo aren’t exactly unique in MMA.
Worse, though, Holloway says Topuria lost BMF cred with how he fought Josh Emmett back in June 2023.
“At the end of the day, I think you’ve got to earn that moment, and I believe he could have earned it with Josh Emmett,” Max said.
“In their five-round war, Josh Emmett was trying to swing,” Holloway continued. “If you guys go back to that fight and watch what happened, when Josh Emmett tried to swing, someone shot, and someone held someone down for the rest of the fight. So, I think the moment needs to be earned, and he’s just trying to steal stuff.”
“He’s already trying to steal one person’s aura, and now he’s trying to steal somebody else’s thing.”