One-Punch KO? Dustin Poirier Weighs In on Ilia Topuria’s Bold Claim for Max Holloway Fight

Ilia Topuria is confident coming into his title defense against Max Holloway headlining UFC 308. But Dustin Poirier explains that it might not be as easy as the Georgian-Spanish athlete thinks.

Dustin Poirier on Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway

The reigning UFC featherweight champion ‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria captured the division crown when he stopped top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski by way of knockout. At UFC 308, Topuria feels that he will do the same to the former champion ‘Blessed’ Max Holloway. But, MMA icon Dustin Poirier says that it will not be that simple.

‘The Diamond’ Poirier has won half his professional MMA bouts via knockout but was unable to put away ‘Blessed‘ when they fought years prior. In fact, Holloway has never lost by knockout in his career despite facing a series of dangerous strikers such as Conor McGregor, Poirier, Jose Aldo, and Justin Gaethje, among others.

Speaking to Mike Bohn in an interview, Dustin Poirier commented on Topuria trying to knock out Holloway. He said:

“To go out there and one-punch Max is going to be almost impossible, I think. It can happen, for sure. But I don’t think it will. This is a big test. If [Topuria] goes in there and beats Max, or lasts with Max in the volume game, outpoints him, outfights him technically on the feet—that’s going to say so much about Ilia and where he’s going to go. I can’t pick against Max. I could see Topuria winning, but Max’s experience and the championship fights he’s been in… it’s hard to bet against that.” [Ht MMANews]

‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria will be aiming to do just that in his main event bout against the highly skilled Max Holloway. ‘Blessed’ is known for his volume-striking while Topuria is a knockout technician.