Ever since winning the UFC featherweight title, Ilia Topuria has seen a drastic rise in his popularity. Now, he is most likely to face former UFC champion Max Holloway to defend his title. Moreover, both MMA fighters are engaged in a social media feud before their potential fight. The already spiced-up feud also saw UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley share his thoughts on their potential matchup, predicting Holloway will defeat Topuria.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, O’Malley said, “Ilia’s gonna be the next Cody Garbrandt… He had his little Dominick Cruz performance, he’s about to get pieced up by Max Holloway and then go downhill from there. Not really, I feel like Ilia’s one of the most skilled guys actually in the UFC. But f*** Ilia.”
It seems O’Malley doesn’t really like Topuria. He claimed that the UFC featherweight champion would suffer the same fate as Cody Garbrandt – facing vicious losses in his first title defenses. He also expressed his discontent with Topuria’s position. O’Malley predicted Topuria’s defeat against Holloway and mocked him for being higher in the pound-for-pound rankings. In the P4P rankings, Topuria is 5th, and O’Malley is 6th.
When Will Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria Fight?
Both the fighters have won their last fights and are likely to face each other. Recently, they accused each other of not picking up the fight and not signing the contract. The duo had a go at each other on social media platform X. Topuria mentioned wanting to face Holloway, and he made that clear again in his cryptic response to Holloway.
Holloway’s only losses at featherweight happened in a trilogy of fights with Volkanovski, while Topuria is undefeated in his UFC career so far. Both fighters have exceptional striking skills. As this will be Topuria’s first title defense, he will look forward to making it a successful one. Meanwhile, Holloway must aim to reclaim the title. Although there’s no assurance when and where the fight will happen, it is sure that it will be a pure showcase action for the fans.
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Also Read: UFC Champ Sean O’Malley’s Unique Gun-in-Hand Boxing Training Sends Fans Into a Frenzy
