Max Holloway and UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria have engaged in a public exchange, with Topuria challenging Holloway to a fight and Holloway responding with a proposed date and venue.
Max Holloway doesn’t take lightly to being publicly called out.
Reigning UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria was in Madrid on Wednesday. He was there to promote his upcoming autobiographical documentary, Matador.
During the event, he answered a few questions. When asked why he hasn’t booked his first title defense after defeating Alexander Volkanovski, Topuria pointed fingers at his potential opponents. Particularly Holloway.
“It’s not because of me,” Topuria said (translation from Spanish via ESPN MMA). “They called me to say that Max Holloway was having family issues, that he was having trouble cutting weight, and that he wanted to fight in a higher weight class. Honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea.”
Holloway reacted swiftly to the translated clip. He wrote that Topuria “is just making things up.”
A bout between Topuria and Holloway emerged as a possibility following Holloway’s spectacular last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje in their “BMF” title fight at UFC 300 this past April. That bout was contested at 155 pounds.
The win instantly thrust Holloway into the lightweight title conversation. But the former featherweight champion remains a viable option for 145-pound gold as well.
Since 2014, Holloway’s only losses at featherweight have occurred in a trilogy of fights with Volkanovski. Around those defeats, Holloway has knocked off several ranked opponents including Arnold Allen, Yair Rodriguez, and Calvin Kattar.
Topuria has previously mentioned wanting to face the future Hall of Famer. He made that clear again in his social media response to Holloway.
“Choose a date, choose the way you want me to beat you, and write it here,” Topuria wrote on Twitter. “I am ready to turn off your lights whenever and wherever. Call Dana.”
Not long after, Holloway responded again. He told Topuria that he’s been in talks with the UFC and then offered a tongue-in-cheek challenge: fight at Sphere in Las Vegas for UFC 306 on Sept. 14 using a rare submission hold.
“Since you said it,” Holloway wrote back. “The Sphere, by toe hold. See you soon.”
Topuria is undefeated with a record of 15-0 in pro MMA and 7-0 in the UFC. He has eight career submission victories; his most recent was an arm-triangle choke against Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282 in December 2022.
The featherweight champion replied respectfully but also suggested he’d like to be the first fighter to finish Holloway by knockout.
“God bless you brother,” Topuria tweeted back. “Nothing against you! But it brings me great joy to be the first to disconnect you.. it seems so fun.”