Ilia Topuria Refuses to Defend Title Against Volkanovski in Australia: “That’s Never Going to Happen”
Ilia Topuria is happy to run it back with Alexander Volkanovski, but he won’t do it in The Land Down Under.
In February, ‘El Matador’ secured a second-round TKO against ‘The Great’ to claim the featherweight title. On Saturday, Topuria will put his shiny new belt on the line for the very first time when he meets division staple Max Holloway in the UFC 308 headliner in Abu Dhabi.
Should Topuria pass his test against ‘Blessed’ in the UAE, he could find himself tasked with once again taking out Volkanovski in a rematch that feels almost inevitable. Just don’t expect the champ to give Volk the home-field advantage if and when they run it back.
“If that makes him feel happy thinking that, maybe, I will go to Australia, that’s okay, but in myself, that’s never going to happen,” Topuria said during Wednesday’s UFC 308 media day. “I am the champion and if you want to fight for the title again, it has to be in Madrid instead of fighting in Australia in front of your people. Why would I want to give you that advantage?”
Max Holloway Looks to hand Ilia Topuria his first career loss at UFC 308
Topuria rides into UFC 308 with a perfect 15-0 record, including seven straight wins inside the Octagon.
Meanwhile, Max Holloway will be making the walk for his ninth title fight under the UFC banner. Blessed’ is a former interim and undisputed featherweight champion with successful title defenses against Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, and Frankie Edgar.
Holloway also holds wins over Charles Oliveira, Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez, Arnold Allen, and The Korean Zombie. His last appearance came at UFC 300 when he scored a buzzer-beating knockout against Justin Gaethje to capture the BMF title.
