Topuria doesn’t want the Holloway fight if the BMF belt is not at stake
The Spanish-Georgian featherweight champion said in an interview that he is not interested in facing the Hawaiian if it is not for the title he won at UFC 300
After Max Holloway’s knockout victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, Ilia Topuria decided he would be his next opponent. Both confirmed their fight online, but the Spanish-Georgian has one requirement to face him: the belt he won.
“Without the BMF belt, I don’t want him at all”, El Matador revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani. Moreover, he stated that he was not impressed by the Hawaiian’s performance.
Holloway put Gaethje to sleep in the last second of the final round to take the BMF title from him, a belt that defines the company’s ‘baddest’ fighter. Topuria saw it all from the front row alongside former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The Hawaiian asked for a fight against Ilia, who accepted without hesitation.
Topuria wants Holloway in September
But there are conditions. Holloway was the featherweight champion but lost his crown to Alexander Volkanovski. Now he wants to get the belt back, and he has the chance to have a title fight. But El Matador wants something else. The BMF title has to be at stake, otherwise, he is not interested in Max.
“If not, I will fight Volkanovski, he deserves the rematch more than him. But Max has that belt, and that excites me, that’s why I want him”, Ilia admitted.
“He’s been saying, ‘Right now I have a lot of options’ and this and that. 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. He has to wait for the call. Whenever I want him, he has to be ready,” Topuria added.
Topuria also said he’s eyeing September for his return date, as he revealed that the UFC “wants me at the Sphere in September.”