2024 had the octagon witness some crazy KOs but former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier believes nothing comes close to featherweight champion Ilia Topuria’s knockout of Max Holloway. Topuria, defending his title at UFC 308, hit Holloway with a flush right in the second round and shut his lights out. This was the first time someone had been able to do that with Holloway.
Poirier had joined former double champ Daniel Cormier and UFC veteran Chael Sonnen on an episode of their ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy‘ show and explained the magnitude of Holloway getting ‘slept’ for the first time in his career.
“Going in there toe-to-toe with Justin Gaethje, with me, with Conor McGregor… with a bunch of guys, taking big shots and always answering the bell, always getting back up, always showing up to the next round. You know, I have never really seen him rocked or stumbled that much. And to get put down for the first time after 30+ UFC fights is to me, knockout of the year.”
Poirier is not wrong. Holloway was only 32 at the time of the fight. He might have been fighting for a long time in the UFC but the Hawaiian fighter was still in the game. Despite the idea that Topuria had the hype behind him, Holloway had a lot of cred going into the fight.
He was coming off of a BMF title fight against Justin ‘Highlight Reel’ Gaethje, which saw him dominate the fight and then call his opponent for an open brawl with 10 seconds to go, only to KO him right as the final bell rang!
However, when he stood against Topuria in the octagon, the featherweight champion made it look easy. Topuria was also coming off knocking out another featherweight legend, Alexander Volkanovski for the title. He was versatile, quick, and precise. And even though Holloway had the volume of strikes going for him, he was no match for Topuria’s power.
And now that he’s got Holloway in the bag, Ilia wants to take his KO talents to lightweight, where he wants to destroy another fan favorite.
Topuria- UFC’s newest villain
The UFC has had quite a few villains since its days under the sun. Chael Sonnen was the ‘Bad Guy’ with his words, while Conor McGregor defeated the likes of Jose Aldo after taunting him for months.
But there was a limit to what they could do. Sonnen never won a title and McGregor never defended one. The only villain who did was Jon Jones but his villainy has seen him get suspended for drug abuse and arrested for assaults.
But that’s not Topuria’s style.
Humble in victory and defeat, Topuria is otherwise a menace. He recently sent the UFC into a whirlpool by claiming that the featherweight division had seen the last of him.
Days after lightweight Islam Makhachev claimed he wasn’t interested in fighting smaller guys like Topuria, the featherweight champion announced his intention to move to lightweight.
And he isn’t one to take a shortcut either. Topuria doesn’t just want to challenge for the title. He wants to systematically take over and plans on starting his campaign with former lightweight champion Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira.
While it is no easy task for anyone to defeat Oliveira, Topuria is confident. If Dana White signs on the dotted lines and the fight comes to pass, it sure will be one heck of a contest. And if he defeats Oliveira, Topuria will have successfully finished three of this generation’s biggest stars in the UFC!
