"He's a fake fighter" - Ilia Topuria, Khamzat Chimaev, Robert Whittaker, and other UFC 308 stars share their views on Conor McGregor's return
UFC 308 stars Ilia Topuria, Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker, have weighed in on Conor McGregor's highly anticipated return to the octagon. The Irishman has been away from the cage since 2021, but is expected to return to action in early 2025.
The highly anticipated event takes place this Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria will defend his featherweight title against Max Holloway in the main event, with the co-main seeing Chimaev battle it out with Whittaker in a middleweight title eliminator bout.
Ahead of the action this weekend, some of the cards' biggest stars spoke to social media star and presenter Jon-Bernard Kairouz.
Kairouz then asked them a host of questions, which included what their honest thoughts are on McGregor's upcoming UFC return and whether or not he'll be the same fighter. 'The Reaper' said:
"No way...Give $100m dollars to any fighter and you'll see a different one the next fight."
Chimaev responded:
"I don't think so. No...Conor in his prime was one of the best guys in the world. But you know, now is not his time. His time is gone."
Topuria said:
"The same one? Never...He's a fake fighter. He fakes all the time that he's coming back. Where is he?
Volkanovski said:
"Every time he's in front of a camera he's at 100 miles an hour. I don't know if we'll see again to be honest."
Rafael dos Anjos stated:
"Definitely not. I don't think he's going to come back."
Check out all the fighters' comments on Conor McGregor here:
Ilia Topuria hits back at Max Holloway after Conor McGregor comparison comments
Ilia Topuria has clapped back at his upcoming opponent Max Holloway, following comments 'Blessed' made regarding 'El Matador'.
The two featherweights are set to battle it out in the main event of UFC 308 this weekend, as Topuria defends his title for the first time. During the build-up to their bout, Holloway has regularly stated that he sees Topuria and his actions as nothing but a copy of Conor McGregor.
At the UFC 308 presser, the Georgian-Spaniard then responded to Holloway's comparisons, brushing off any notion he was copying anybody. He said:
"It's going to be in the first round. I'll put a lot of pressure on him since the beginning of the fight, since the first round. He's been saying a lot, that I copy a lot of other fighters, but the reality is that he wants to be me, he wants to be the champion, and he wants to be in my place."
Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below (18:13):