Ilia Topuria is not a man who lacks confidence.
The 27-year-old Spaniard rose to the top of the UFC Featherweight ladder quickly, and he did so promising great things all the while. Topuria may come off as arrogant at times, but well, “El Matador” said he would knock out Alexander Volkanovski, and he sure lived up to his word!
In the cage, confidence is everything, and Topuria thinks Conor McGregor has lost that spark. “You are mentally broken,” he wrote on social media. “That is your biggest lesson. You doubt yourself, your abilities, your preparation, that’s why you don’t show up. You are a b—ch.”
During his own rise, “The Notorious” was making bold predictions and mostly living up to them. He talked the biggest game possible and became the sport’s biggest star. Call it manifestation or arrogance — McGregor made it happen.
Now, McGregor is withdrawing from his scheduled UFC 303 main event versus Michael Chandler because of a broken pinky toe. The long-awaited comeback grows longer and fans are unimpressed, particularly since a rising McGregor mocked injured would-be opponents and did in fact make it into the cage with a torn knee on multiple occasions. To make optics worse, Alex Pereira is the man replacing McGregor, and he just broke several of his toes fighting Jamahal Hill!
As for Topuria, fans are still waiting for his first title defense to be scheduled, likely against Max Holloway (unless other BMF plans get in the way). He wants to face off with McGregor as well, which explains the trash talk, but thus far, McGregor has sounded less than interested in the Spaniard.