Ahead of his first title defense, UFC’s featherweight king, Ilia Topuria has made a major admission. Recently, the Spaniard sat down with UFC commentator and former double champ, Daniel Cormier to reveal that he doesn’t want to be known for having a durable chin.
Taking a sly dig at his opponent, Max Holloway, Topuria opined that he doesn’t want to be known for his ability to get hit and never give up. But he’d want the community to remember him as the fighter who’d outright dominate his opponents.
Speaking his mind to the veteran, the 27-year-old said,
“He (Max Holloway) has a great chin, I would never ever want people to know me as the greatest chin in the UFC. See that mean, that I take too much (damage). I don’t want that.I want to dominate people!”
Now, for the newbie fans out there, ‘El Matador’s’ opponent, Holloway is known for his indestructible chin. In fact, the Hawaiian has this uncanny ability to take shots for hours on an end and still never get knocked down.
As a matter of fact, he has never been knocked down in his career. This man has done so despite going up against killers like Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje amongst others.
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All his seven losses in the UFC came by way of decisions while the 33-year-old employs his slick boxing to piece up his opponents for his wins. There are not a lot of fighters in the UFC who can throw the sheer volume of punches Holloway can.
But that’s not what Topuria is interested in.
During the entire conversation with DC, Topuria was supremely confident in his skills and even claimed that he was the best in the fight business! So much so, that he wants to move up to lightweight and fight the champion Islam Makhachev.
Meanwhile, the champ’s desire to fight the pound-for-pound best, Makhachev, did not get a green signal from the UFC head honcho. In fact, Dana White simply ruled out the possibility of Topuria vs Makhachev.
Uncle Dana pours cold water on Topuria’s LW ambitions
In a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, the featherweight champion revealed his champ-champ desire. While he clarified that he had nothing personal against Makhachev, he was keen on capturing the Russian’s belt.
As a matter of fact, ever since his ascension, Topuria has been calling out almost everyone. This includes former double champ Conor McGregor and even the current welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad.
While this might seem like a bit too far-fetched a dream, the Spaniard is not kidding here. He really does want to move up to lightweight after his first title defense against Holloway!
Fortunately or unfortunately, the UFC head has put a hold on that. During a recent exclusive with TMZ Sports, Dana White said,
“Before we start talking about guys moving up to other weight classes, I mean, look at Max Holloway. When he moved up, he had wiped out the entire division [and proved to be] the best 145-pounder, and then Volkanovski [did the same]. So there’s plenty of challenges [left] for him [Topuria] at 145.”
Taking the case of his opponent, Holloway, and ‘The Great’ Alexander Volkanovski, Uncle Dana asserted that he’d want Topuria to prove himself in the featherweight division before he jumps the scales.
