Ilia Topuria's trash talk and title goals earn mockery from Belal Muhammad: "Dude's got Napoleon syndrome”
Ilia Topuria is set to defend his title for the first time against Max Holloway at UFC 308 this Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Ahead of the clash, Topuria has been relentlessly trying to get under Holloway's skin, which welterweight champion Belal Muhammad recently reacted to.
Moreover, Topuria and Muhammad have been going and forth lately, with the former belittling the latter's skill. 'El Matador' even claimed he'd beat the 170-pound king in a fight despite the size difference. Additionally, the Georgian-Spaniard has taken shots at lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and the Dagestani's team.
In a recent interview with MMAFightingonSBN, Muhammad was asked about Topuria's remarks. 'Remember the Name' claimed that the featherweight champion is trying to act tough, but instead of focusing on Holloway, he's unnecessarily taking digs at Makhachev and himself.
“Yeah, I think that dude's got like Napoleon syndrome or something. The short guys always act like they're tough, but literally, I think he started coming at me because somebody asked me why he was coming at Islam."
Muhammad continued:
"He needs to focus on Holloway, who's in front of him. You don’t want to disrespect the guys from Dagestan because if they see you in person, they’re going to slap you, right? They don’t take that stuff lightly. They don’t play the trash-talk game. It’s real life for them, and I think he took offense to that. But he’s in that mode right now where he's still trying to find himself and convince fans that he’s this trash talker, this bad guy. He's not really good at trash talking, so when he comes at me, it’s laughable because he’s basically copying words off memes.”
Check out Belal Muhammad’s comments below (16:28):
Ilia Topuria responds to Max Holloway's claims of being a "copycat" of Conor McGregor
At the UFC 308 pre-fight press conference, Ilia Topuria addressed the claims made by Max Holloway during media day. 'Blessed' accused the reigning 145-pound champion of being a "copycat" of Conor McGregor. The BMF champion said:
"You gotta earn that right... this guy's a copycat, down to the tattoos, to his aura, to the way he's approaching fights... He's just trying to steal stuff. He's already trying to steal [McGregor's] aura."
Dismissing Holloway's comments, Topuria vowed to finish the Hawaiian in the very first round. At the pre-fight presser, 'El Matador' 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 (18:14):