The BMF title will not be on the line at UFC 308,
but Ilia
Topuria believes he can have a negative impact on its
relevance.
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Topuria will defend his featherweight crown against former champ
Max
Holloway in Saturday’s headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
After going 0-3 in 145-pound title bouts against Alexander
Volkanovski, Holloway was on the outside looking in when it
came to the featherweight title picture. However, that changed when
Topuria defeated Volkanovski to become the new featherweight king
at UFC 298.
Meanwhile, Holloway moved up to 155 pounds at UFC 300, where he
captured the BMF belt with an iconic fifth-round knockout of
Justin
Gaethje. Topuria has since stated that Holloway was reluctant
to accept a championship fight at 145 pounds, and he reiterated
that claim in a recent interview with CBS Sports.
“After he knocked out Justin Gaethje, I asked about Max Holloway,”
Topuria said. “Before that fight, I thought of giving the rematch
to Volkanovski or waiting for new contenders. Max didn’t deserve
the shot [at that time]. He was beaten three times by Volk so it
didn’t make any sense to face him. After his fight with Gaethje, he
got that very exciting knockout in the last second, so I wanted to
fight him.
“I’m the champion and I choose who to fight. UFC told me he was
asking to stay in the 155-pound division and fight Chandler. They
brought me many names. They basically had to force him to fight
me.”
Holloway has denied Topuria’s assertion, pointing out that “El
Matador” was the one who was asking for a shot at the BMF
strap.
Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order
Now!
“It’s funny. He says that, but then you can go and click, there’s
an interview of him saying that he won’t fight me if the BMF title
wasn’t on the line. The last time I checked, the BMF title is not
on the line,” Holloway recently told MMAFighting.com.
“So if anybody got forced to fight, it looks like him. It came out
of his own mouth. He said he wasn’t going to fight me unless the
BMF title is on the line. It’s not, buddy. So I guess he played
himself on that one.”
While Topuria won’t be able to take the BMF belt home if he wins at
UFC 308, he believes it won’t be nearly as prestigious if he
dispatches Holloway in that way that he expects.
“If you are at the point in your career where you are the BMF and
you have that belt, why do you want to go down to fight for the
featherweight title where you have a very low possibility to win?”
Topuria said. “The only thing that makes you relevant is the BMF
belt.
“You will lose a lot of value if someone comes and defeats you,
even if you don’t put the BMF belt at stake. Imagine what’s going
to happen after Oct. 26 when I knock him out. His belt won’t have
any value anymore. You can call yourself the BMF but I’m not sure.”