Ilia Topuria has found a new admirer in Joe Rogan following his stellar KO of Max Holloway at UFC 308. Holloway, known for his legendary chin, had never been knocked out in his career before but ‘El Matador’s’ power and accuracy proved too much for him to handle. This has promoted Rogan to call him a generational fighter.
In his last two fights, Topuria has knocked out two of the best fighters the UFC featherweight division has ever seen. He finished off Alexander Volkaovksi the same way he did Holloway and he made it look easy.
Rogan believes Topuria is the face of a new generation of fighters coming up in the UFC who are just that good at everything, be it with striking or grappling. The Spaniard’s technique is just too good. On an episode of his Joe Rogan Podcast, the UFC commentator claimed:
“He’s just really really f*cking good. And he’s the new guard…a new high watermark of technique, that’s where Ilia is.”
He then spoke about how the only person left to challenge him in the division was a healthy Alexander Volkanovski. Rogan wants to see the Australian get his rematch next.
The first time they had fought, Volk was coming off of a KO loss to Islam Makhahev at 155 lbs. And that has often been used as a reason for his sudden demise in the Topuria fight.
However, upon closely looking at the match, it dawns upon you that the Spaniard just outplayed him. He switched stances and he moved in and out of the pocket quickly. Volk was simply outplayed and then outgunned.
But since the doubts remain, it is only fair that he get another shake at the title, after all, he’s defended it successfully about a million times.
And Topuria is not above it either. Following his win against Holloway at UFC 308, the champ saw Volk walk towards him to the octagon and give him a hug. The two had a quick chat and Topuria decided that the Aussie deserved another shot at the title and after doing so much for the division, it’s the least the Aussie deserved and offered to fight him next.
However, despite his elation, ‘El Matador‘, there was one little thing that did not sit right with him as he complained to Dana White.
Topuria not a fan of White’s meagre $50k bonuses
In an interview with the UFC, Topuria revealed that he was not happy with the chump change the UFC is used to handing out to its prize fighters.
“I knocked out Max Holloway and Dana only give me $50K? I hope he’s gonna give me a little bit more. I hope so, I’m gonna put my hopes in Dana”
Topuria walked into the octagon claiming that he would become the first man ever to KO the Hawaiian and so he did. It was worthy of a title fight, a PPV main event.
White himself talked about regretting not making it a BMF title fight either since both fighters were just going at it full throttle. So, maybe, just give him the money. Or as a whole, change the pay structure and let the fighters earn what they should for putting their literal lives on the line, .
