Ilia Topuria has threatened to overlook BMF title holder Max Holloway for his first UFC featherweight title defense and has an alternate in mind.
Following his enormous KO victory over Justin Gaethje on the weekend, Max Holloway and featherweight champion Ilia Topuria have been going back-and-forth on social media with ‘El Matador’ threatening that he already has a alternative opponent lined up.
Max Holloway fires back and Ilia Topuria over title shot comments
On Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Ilia Topuria made headlines when he suggested that he’d only be willing to fight Max Holloway if ‘Blessed’ also put up his shiny recent silver-plated BMF belt.
“He’s got that BMF belt so I’m excited so as to add that belt to my legacy too… Without the BMF belt, I don’t want him in any respect… He’s been saying ‘right away I actually have a variety of options’, he doesn’t have any options. I’m the champion right away, I select the date, I select the place. At any time when I would like him, he needs to be ready.”
Holloway responded to the conditional offer by arguing “That’s not very BMF, that’s type of un-BMF, a BMF fights whatever, whoever, each time…That’s not a tone of a [real] BMF.”
“Last time I checked, once I was your age, I already had title defenses, buddy. So it looks such as you’ve still got some catching as much as do.”
Ilia Topuria threatens to provide UFC featherweight title shot to Brian Ortega
It seems that this statement from Holloway has decidedly gotten under the skin of ‘El Matador’, who responded on social media by suggesting that he could as a substitute offer the featherweight title shot to Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega.
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“You’ll have a worthy defeat against a champion who can be remembered for eternity. I determine who, when, and where. Should you don’t just like the terms I’m sure Ortega will oblige.”
Brian Ortega is currently the #3 ranked featherweight on the planet after defeating Yair Rodriguez via third-round submission at UFC Fight Night Mexico City back in February 2024.
Topuria himself stated that he’d consider facing Ortega over Holloway since he “now not fights for money but for legacy,” before stating that his goal is now to turn out to be the primary UFC fighter to carry each the BMF belt and a divisional title concurrently:
“Winning that belt while holding my title will cement me as the primary. The primary to carry each belts. The primary to knock out volk and what most definitely will occur once we fight, the primary one to place you to sleep. Something to calm you down is that this: God doesn’t shame anyone.”
“The one thing questionable about me is whether or not I finish you by ko or submission,” said the 15-0 champion, who added: “You now have the one thing that keeps you relevant and that may grant you a money fight, the BMF belt.”
Ilia Topuria could face Brian Ortega at The Sphere for UFC Noche
Whilst Topuria has been calling for a UFC Spain event, it seems that such an event sadly won’t occur this yr – with the Spanish-Georgian superstar now hinting that he’d wish to return in September at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
He told Ariel Helwani via The MMA Hour “I can be ready for September – either September or October. I’m at all times in shape, at all times ready, at all times able to go, able to kill and never able to die.”
“I believe that they need me to fight in The Sphere in September, so we’ll see how they’ll work out things. At the identical time, we wish to go to Spain and produce the UFC here in the primary trimester of next yr in order that’s one in every of the explanations I would like to fight in September-October to have the ability to fight again [in Spain].”
Whilst Ortega has arguably earned himself a title shot, albeit likely being the third-choice to Holloway and Volkanovski, the larger hook here can be that this fight would go down on Mexican Independence Day, with Ortega proudly representing his Mexican heritage on the world stage.
On the time of writing, UFC 306 at The Sphere in Las Vegas has no announced fights, with the expectation being for Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko to feature on that card following their stint on The Ultimate Fighter this summer.
