Video – Ilia Topuria vows to stand in Octagon center during fierce Max Holloway face off
Once more confirming plans to stand and point to the center of the Octagon during the initial goings of his UFC 308 headliner with Max Holloway, unbeaten champion, Ilia Topuria urged the Hawaiian to follow suit for the fans ahead of their Abu Dhabi featherweight title fight during their pre-fight press conference.
Topuria, the current undisputed featherweight champion, will headline UFC 308 this weekend in his first attempted defense of the divisional crown, taking on former champion and current symbolic BMF champion, Holloway in the pair’s heated grudge fight.
Winning the divisional crown at UFC 298 back in February of this year, unbeaten striker, Ilia Topuria most recently landed the undisputed featherweight title with a stunning second round win over common-opponent, Alexander Volkanovski, finishing the New South Wales native with a brutal stoppage win via strikes.
Ilia Topuria again invites Max Holloway to swing with him at UFC 308
As for Holloway, the former dominant featherweight champion most recently featured at UFC 300 back in April, turning in a stunning, buzzer-beating knockout win over former interim lightweight gold holder, Justin Gaethje to become the symbolic BMF champion under the banner of the promotion.
Facing off today ahead of this weekend’s massive UFC 308 title fight in Abu Dhabi, UAE — Ilia Topuria once more invited Holloway to stand in the center of the Octagon with him during the initial stages of their featherweight title fight, failing to draw a response from the challenger.
And with both linked with a rematch against the above-mentioned, Volkanovski ahead of their UFC 308 title headliner — with the Australian vowing to meet the winner of the bout inside the Octagon following the event, however, Topuria has no interest in fighting the ex-gold holder ‘Downunder’.
“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?”
