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Video – UFC champ Ilia Topuria shows off his power ahead of proposed title fight with Max Holloway

Video - UFC champ Ilia Topuira shows off his power ahead of proposed title fight with Max Holloway It looks like Ilia Topuria is getting ready for his first featherweight title defense. In February, ‘El Matador’ shocked…

It looks like Ilia Topuria is getting ready for his first featherweight title defense.

In February, ‘El Matador’ shocked the world with a stunning second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski, capturing the 145-pound crown and kicking off a new era in one of the promotion’s most stacked divisions.

In the time since, former champion Max Holloway has emerged as the next man in line following his buzzer-beaking KO of Justin Gaethje to claim the BMF belt at UFC 300.

The UFC has not made any official announcements, but all signs point toward Topuria putting his belt on the line against ‘Blessed’ in a scrap expected to go down in late summer/early fall.

Recently, Topuria offered fight fans a glimpse of what awaits Holloway inside the Octagon via his Instagram Stories.

Thus far, Ilia Topuria is a perfect 15-0 in his mixed martial arts career with a greater than 50% finish rate, including eight submissions and five knockouts. Under the UFC banner, he’s already earned finishes over the likes of Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, Jai Herbert, Bryce Mitchell, and of course, Alexander Volkanovksi.

Ilia Topuria vows to be the first man to KO Max Holloway

Surprisingly, Topuria and Holloway have not yet crossed paths. In his dozen-year-long career with the UFC, ‘Blessed’ has faced practically everyone who’s run through 145, including Conor McGregor, Clay Collard, Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens, Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, Frankie Edgar, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez, The Korean Zombie, and the aforementioned Volkanovski.

Perhaps even more impressive than his resume is the fact that despite fighting a murderer’s row of featherweight talent, Max Holloway has never once been KO’d in his career.

That’s something Topuria plans to change in their impending clash.

“There is always the first time [for a knockout],” Topuria told Sportskeeda. “This is going to be the first time that someone is going to knock him (Holloway) out, and I’m the one who’s gonna do that. I see the first time we’re gonna start to exchange the hands, I’m gonna take his lights out, for sure. I know that. I just need one clear punch and I have the power to put him to sleep.”

Ilia Topuria lays out plan for clash with Conor McGregor in Spain: ‘It’s gonna be the biggest fight in history’

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has layed out his two-fight plan which includes a mega-fight against Conor McGregor. Topuria…

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has layed out his two-fight plan which includes a mega-fight against Conor McGregor.

Topuria became the featherweight champion in February with a knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski. It’s expected his next fight will be against Max Holloway, and the champ is hoping to face the Hawaiian at The Sphere in September. If he gets the win there, the plan for the Georgian-Spainard is to face McGregor next.

“I hope to defend the belt with Max Holloway, and then I wanna fight with Conor McGregor, hopefully,” Ilia Topuria told Sportskeeda (via MMAMania). “If [McGregor] wins his upcoming fight, that’s the fight I’m looking for. So hopefully it’s gonna happen.”

Although McGregor is fighting at welterweight in his return, Topuria still thinks the fight could happen. It would be a massive fight, and he believes that would be the fight that could headline a stadium show in Europe.

“It’s gonna be the biggest fight in the in the MMA history,” Topuria said. “The biggest ticketing, the biggest pay-per-view, the biggest everything. We’re gonna have 80,000 people watching the fight in the arena. Yeah. It’s gonna be in the Bernabeu. When the UFC is gonna arrive in Spain, it’s gonna happen in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.”

Ilia Topuria Shares Prediction For McGregor-Chandler

With Ilia Topuria expecting to fight Conor McGregor in his next two fights, he believes he will defeat Michael Chandler on June 29 in Las Vegas.

It will be a highly-anticipated matchup and Topuria expects McGregor to do something special to get the win.

Conor McGregor confirms negotiations for new UFC contract ahead of return let's see what happens — Mandatory Credit: Stacy Revere

“Conor, he’s he’s something special,” Topuria said. “When he goes inside the cage, you never know. Maybe you see a knockout in 15 seconds, or maybe you see he breaks his leg, or someone knocks him out. So you never know. Something you always know is that you’re gonna see something spectacular in the fight. Something’s gonna happen.”

McGregor is currently a slight -112 favorite to defeat Chandler at UFC 303.

Ilia Topuria targeting September clash with BMF titleholder Max Holloway: ‘We are in the conversations’

Ilia Topuria knows the who. Now he’s just waiting on the when. After Max Holloway’s incredible buzzer-beating KO of…

Ilia Topuria knows the who. Now he’s just waiting on the when.

After Max Holloway’s incredible buzzer-beating KO of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, ‘Blessed’ was all but guaranteed a chance to challenge ‘El Matador’ for the featherweight title.

During a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Topuria revealed that Holloway will be his first challenger with a target date of September, presumably at UFC 306 when the promotion makes its debut inside The Sphere in Las Vegas.

“My target is to come back in September. Right now we are in the conversations,” Holloway said. “If Max Holloway is able to fight in September, we have a fight. If not, maybe we are going to the end of the year or something like that. I want to fight as soon as possible because next year I wanna fight in Spain.”

Though he has yet to defend his 145-pound crown since his sensational second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in February, Ilia Topuria is already making an itinerary that will take him into 2025 and beyond.

Once he takes care of some business with Holloway, the Georgian has his sights set on a big-money matchup with Irish megastar Conor McGregor.

“I hope to defend the belt with Max Holloway, and then I wanna fight with Conor McGregor,” Topuria added. “It’s gonna be the biggest fight in MMA history.”

Ilia Topuria not interested in a superfight with Islam makhachev… for now

Topuria is even open to a potential scrap with Islam Makhachev — assuming the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ continues to reign over the lightweight division with an iron fist.

“Maybe [I could fight Islam] in the future,” Topuria said. “Right now I just see the Max Holloway fight, the Conor fight. Maybe if [Islam] keeps defending the belt and he keeps becoming bigger and bigger, maybe one day we can see that fight too. But for the moment he’s not in my list.”

Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria reveals the UFC already has a date set for its debut in Spain

It looks like reigning UFC featherweight world champion Ilia Topuria will defend his title for the first time in…

It looks like reigning UFC featherweight world champion Ilia Topuria will defend his title for the first time in his home country.

In February, ‘El Matador’ scored a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski to claim the 145-pound crown. Immediately following the victory, Topuria expressed his desire to defend the title in Spain — preferably inside the Santiago Bernabeu, the home stadium of Real Madrid.

Taking to social media, Topuria revealed that there is a date set for the UFC’s debut in Reino de España.

“I already have a date for UFC Spain,” Topuria wrote in a translated post on X.

Topuria dropped the news mere hours after the promotion announced its return to Paris, France for the third consecutive year. The UFC will head back to The City of Light on September 28 for a Fight Night event inside the Accor Arena. No bouts have been announced, but in all likelihood, the card will feature the return of former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane who hails from the Western European country.

The event will come six weeks after the conclusion of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The event could also see the return of Manon Fiorot and Benoit Saint-Denis who competed on last year’s Paris card.

Who Will Ilia Topuria defend his title against?

As for who we could see Ilia Topuria defend his title against, there are a few potential options — chief among them being Max Holloway. Following his buzzer-beating KO of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, ‘Blessed’ is primed for another crack at 145-pound gold.

Other options could be a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski, though recent reports have suggested that Topuria declined to run it back with ‘The Great’ when presented with the opportunity.

‘El Matador’ has also suggested Brian Ortega as his first title challenger. Bouncing back from a devastating shoulder surgery, ‘T-City’ scored a slick arm-triangle choke in his rematch with Yair Rodriguez a week after Topuria claimed the featherweight strap.

Ilia Topuria denies turning down Alexander Volkanovski rematch fight in Australia: ‘The UFC never offered it’

UFC featherweight Ilia Topuria denies that he had turned down a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski. After his incredible run…

UFC featherweight Ilia Topuria denies that he had turned down a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski.

After his incredible run as featherweight champion, Volkanovski earned the chance at revenge against Ilia Topuria. It was unclear when exactly ‘The Great’ would be fit to return to action after suffering two back-to-back knockout losses.

However, in a recent episode of his podcast, Joe Rogan claims that Volkanovski was ready to return in August, but that Topuria had turned down the fight.

“But I guess he feels like he’s the champ,” Rogan said. “He can call the shots. I know that he turned down the Perth one — [UFC] 305, the Volkanovski rematch.”

Topuria quickly shut down the claims from Rogan but made it clear that he would rather face Holloway next.

“I never turned down the rematch with Alex as the UFC has never offered me this fight. As I’ve said many times before, I will be the first to knock out Holloway. Let’s keep this simple: Do you want to fight? If the answer is yes, there’s nothing more to discuss. Bring my belt and your pillow”, Topuria tweeted.

I never turned down the rematch with Alex as the UFC has never offered me this fight. As I’ve said many times before, I will be the first to knockout Holloway. Let’s keep this simple: Do you want to fight? If the answer is yes, there's nothing more to discuss. Bring my belt and…

— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) May 1, 2024

Who’s next for Ilia Topuria?

Since Max Holloway’s sensational knockout over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, the war of words between he and Topuria has ramped up. While the win would come up at lightweight, Holloway has practically jumped the queue at featherweight to challenge Topuria for his title.

‘Blessed’ is one of the hottest names in all of MMA at the moment and a fight against Topuria, who is steadily building his own brand, would be massive. Not rushing back might also do Volkanovski some good considering how heavy the last knockout he suffered was.

Topuria has also recently mentioned No.3 ranked Brian Ortega as a potential opponent after the 33-year-old scored a stoppage victory over Yair Rodriguez.

Who would you like to see Ilia Topuria face next?

Ilia Topuria gives up on BMF title demands, accepts fight with Max Holloway: ‘It’s clear he is next’

Laying out a list of demands in order to offer former featherweight titleholder, Max Holloway a shot at divisional…

Laying out a list of demands in order to offer former featherweight titleholder, Max Holloway a shot at divisional gold – which included his own pursuit of the symbolic BMF crown, Ilia Topuria has now confirmed he will stand opposite the Hawaiian next.

Topuria, the current undisputed featherweight champion, won divisional spoils at UFC 298 back in February, toppling common-foe, Alexander Volkanovski with a blistering second round KO to end the Australian’s title run.

As for Holloway, the former undisputed featherweight gold holder featured on the main card of UFC 300 last month, turning in a buzzer-beating fifth round counter hook knockout win over Justin Gaethje to clinch the symbolic BMF championship in a memorable finishing sequence.

Max Holloway shows off dama — Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

And staking his claim for a shot at Topuria’s featherweight title, Holloway’s calls had fallen on deaf ears in the time after his BMF title win, with the Spaniard claiming any fight with the former should see him put that symbolic up for grabs.

Ilia Topuria accepts fight with Max Holloway is next

Earlier this week, Topuria even went as far as offering the first shot at featherweight spoils to the number three ranked, Brian Ortega, however, appears to have conceded he will be fighting Holloway next – whom he vowed to finish whichever way he wished.

“Yes, it will be (Max) Holloway,” Ilia Topuria told El Hormiguero of his next opponent. “It has been difficult for [Holloway] to accept the challenge, but it is clear that he is next.”

El mensaje de @Topuriailia a Max Holloway #OmarEH pic.twitter.com/sjZopNCqya

— El Hormiguero (@El_Hormiguero) May 1, 2024

“So, wherever, whenever, at whatever weight, you choose if you want me to finish you, to knock you out,” Ilia Topuria issued to Max Holloway. “One very important thing: don’t forger the pillow for when you go to sleep.

In the midst of a three-fight winning spree, prior to his lightweight return at UFC 300, Holloway had turned in a stunning walk-off KO win over Chan Sung Jung in the Korean’s retirement fight, which followed a Kansas City headliner against Arnold Allen, defeating the Ipswich native.

Who wins in a featherweight title fight: Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway?