Ilia Topuria shuts down talks of Max Holloway moving up to lightweight after UFC 308: "I don't care about him"
Ilia Topuria does not seem to be paying any mind to what Max Holloway's future moves may be in the UFC after their fight. We are now only a couple of days away from their pay-per-view main event featherweight title bout at UFC 308. Fight week is in full swing as Holloway and Topuria, along with other prominent fighters from Saturday's event, fielded questions from the media and fans.
At the pre-fight press conference, reigning 145-pound champion Topuria was asked about how former featherweight kingpin Holloway put together another strong run to get back into title contention in this weight category.
The deeper question was rooted in whether or not Topuria would want to see Holloway make another run at featherweight post-UFC 308 or if he'd prefer 'Blessed' move to lightweight so the current 145-pound titleholder can have a fresh crop of prospective contenders.
While he seemed a bit confused at first, when the question was reiterated to him, Topuria said,
"I don't care about him. He can do whatever he wants to do, to be honest [laughs]. I care about my business."
Check out Ilia Topuria's thoughts on Max Holloway potentially moving to 155 pounds post-UFC 308 [7:25] below:
Ilia Topuria's lone lightweight bout in the UFC
Many are excited about potential future prospects for Max Holloway at lightweight following his iconic buzzer-beater finish over former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. But Ilia Topuria has also competed at 155 pounds inside the octagon before.
The 27-year-old moved up 10 pounds to compete inside the UFC cage and did so on Mar. 19, 2022. This was part of a London-based UFC Fight Night offering headlined by Alexander Volkov taking on Tom Aspinall.
Topuria kicked off the main-card portion of the event when he tested skills against Jai Herbert. This move up to 155 pounds came on the heels of some weight issues for Topuria, who had difficulties with his featherweight cut for a UFC 270 fight vs Charles Jourdain in January of that year.
The Spaniard had his lone lightweight outing in the UFC, as of this writing, and shone brightly. He knocked out Herbert 67 seconds into the second round of their bout. Some still see it as the toughest test that Ilia Topuria has faced in his UFC run so far.