Max Holloway credits Dana White and the UFC with protecting Ilya Topria on his path to the featherweight title.
Undefeated Ilya Topria (15-0 MMA) is the current UFC featherweight champion.
At UFC 298 in February of this year, in Topuria vs. Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 mixed martial arts), “El Matador” KOed “The Great” at 3 minutes and 32 seconds of round 2, winning the featherweight title. won the belt.
Max Holloway says Topuria received special treatment from the UFC and didn't have to step into the cage with “Blessed” on his way to the top.
Holloway spoke with Brett Okamoto on ESPN MMA during UFC 300 fight week and explained why he believes the UFC blocked him from facing Topuria on his way to a title shot.
“He likes to talk a lot, and I like to listen. When the time comes, the time will come. He's going to have to meet me sooner or later. Like I said, the UFC… There was a reason why they didn't want him to fight me. They wanted to fight all the other candidates that were coming up, me, Yair, Arnold Allen, who's who, who's who, you keep throwing out names. , I had him fight me. Why didn't Ilia come? And he gets a chance at a title shot after Josh Emmett, who just lost to the champ. The math in MMA can be very complicated sometimes. But it didn't make any sense to me.”
Photo from @ShakFu on Twitter
Finally, Holloway said he believes he could challenge Topuria in the future, but for now, Volkanovski is the one who deserves a rematch in Topuria's first title defense (h/t MMANews):
“I always thought that no matter what happened, they would give Volk a rematch. Volk has done all this work at featherweight, so I don't see why they wouldn't give him a rematch. 'Oh, man. He got knocked out twice in a row,” and I was like, oh, higher class brother, okay. ”
As for Holloway (25-7 MMA), he is ready for a BMF title fight against Justin Gaethje (25-4 MMA) at UFC 300 this weekend.
Holloway was on a two-fight winning streak heading into Saturday's fight, defeating Arnold Allen (19-3 MMA) in April 2023 and Chan Sung-Jong (17-8 MMA) last August.
Gaethje has also won his last two fights, defeating Rafael Fiziev (12-3 MMA) and Dustin Poirier (30-8 MMA) in March and July of last year.
Do you agree with Holloway that the UFC protected Topuria? Do you think Holloway can take the BMF belt from Gaethje on Saturday night?
Please share your thoughts in the comments section. PENN Nation!
