Ilia Topuria is on top of the world after defeating Alexander Volkanovski and becoming the UFC featherweight champion of the world. However, even before he became a champion, the undefeated fighter was quite a recognizable personality. In a recent turn of events, Merab Dvalishvili, the UFC bantamweight prospect, revealed that Topuria was exposed to female celebrities from different walks of life trying to get his attention.
However, in the same interview, the UFC bantamweight revealed that the featherweight champion did not give all those celebrities and models attention and stayed disciplined to perfect his craft. While speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Dvalishvili said,
“Two or three years ago, he showed me his Instagram. All this, you know, celebrities in his DM and so many unopened text messages because he is busy with his training. Even three years ago, I can’t imagine now the connections and celebrities.” He added, “He is special.”
Thus, Dvalishvili is quite impressed by the featherweight champion, as he is captivating and entertaining, both inside and outside the cage. Not to mention, from the aforementioned revelation, it can be deduced that he is loyal—not just to his sport—but also to his better half. However, there is one other fighter, who is not so pleased with Topuria and that is the former UFC featherweight champion of the world, Max Holloway.
Max Holloway has some harsh words for Ilia Topuria
Unlike Dvalishvili, Max Holloway is not a fan of Topuria, and he does not hide it. Ahead of UFC 300, the former featherweight champion was asked about his opinion of the new champion. In his response, Holloway asserted that his opinion is subject to several factors, but he looks forward to fighting with him.
“That’s it. Questionable. Everybody keeps asking me, what do I think of Topuria? He’s questionable. He likes to talk a lot. I like to listen. And 100 percent, when the time is right… it will be. He will have to see me sooner or later.”
Holloway went on to say that Topuria’s credibility as the champion is “questionable”. He also opined that the current featherweight champion looks to trash talk his opponents a lot. Thus, it is evident that there is angst between them and this is what makes this match-up so much more exciting.
