Max Holloway mocks Ilia Topuria’s demands for potential title fight: ‘That’s kind of un-BMF’
Max Holloway doesn’t think Ilia Topuria is acting like a true BMF.
Following Holloway’s incredible buzzer-beating knockout of Justin Gaethje to win the UFC’s bragging rights belt on April 13, reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria opened the door for a potential clash between the two titleholders if — and only if — ‘Blessed’ puts his BMF title up for grabs
“Without the BMF belt [on the line], I don’t want him at all,” Topuria said on The MMA Hour. “If not, I’m gonna fight with Volk who deserves more than him, the rematch. Because he has that belt, I’m excited about that. That’s why I want him. He’s been saying, ‘Right now I have a lot of options.’ He doesn’t have any options. I’m the champion right now, I choose the date, I choose the place. He just has to be ready and wait for the call. Whenever I want him, he has to be ready.”
Responding to Topuria’s demand, Max Holloway questioned whether or not ‘El Matador’ was exhibiting the characteristics of a true BMF.
“That’s not a very ‘BMF’ way to say it,” Holloway told Jim Rome. “A ‘BMF’ wouldn’t say, ‘I’m not going to fight this guy unless …’ That’s kind of un-‘BMF.’ Doesn’t sound ‘BMF’ the way he’s trying to demand it and saying, ‘I’m not going to fight.’
“A ‘BMF’ fights whatever, fights whoever, whenever, any weight, any time, and that’s not a tone of a ‘BMF.’”
Staying true to the BMF way, Max Holloway is adamant that he’ll fight any man the UFC chooses to put in front of him, but a world title tussle with Ilia Topuria is at the top of his last.
Ilia Topuria open to a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski if Max Holloway Fight doesn’t happen
Topuria, on the other hand, did open the door to a potential rematch with Alexander Volkanovski, the man he took the featherweight strap from at UFC 298 in February.
However, ‘El Matador’ has a great deal of respect for the former champ and wants ‘The Great’ to take plenty of time to rest and recover after suffering a pair of brutal back-to-back knockouts.
“Alexander Volkanovki’s been the world champ,” Topuria said. “He’s defended it six or seven times. He’s a pound-for-pound fighter. The most technical guy I’ve fought ever. There’s a reason he’s been a world champion, but I think he needs more time to recover. He fought at the end of the year and got knocked out [by Islam Makhachev].
“I knocked him out and if he doesn’t get the time to recover, he’ll get knocked out three times in one year, or something like that. I just want the best for him. I want the best version of Volkanovski.”
