LaLiga president reacts to Ilia Topuria’s joke about knocking him out over UFC 308 and El Clásico clash
Ilia Topuria is self-admittedly a massive Real Madrid fan, and he recently poked fun at the president of the top football league in Spain, LaLiga. Javier Tebas has been in charge of LaLiga since 2013, and according to reports, his current term will be his last, meaning he will be out of office in 2027.
'El Matador' is days away from his featherweight title fight against Max Holloway at UFC 308, set for Oct. 26, the same day as Real Madrid's upcoming match with heated rivals, FC Barcelona.
Given the Spaniard's affinity for Real Madrid, he recently joked that he would be going after Tebas for the fixture-clash.
He said this:
"Well, let's go for Javier next." [0:25-0:28 in the video; translated from Spanish to English]
Tebas responded to the featherweight champion on X, and wrote this:
"@TopuriaIlia I didn't know you had me in your knockout plans! I warn you that I'm harder to knock out than organizing El Clasico at the time everyone wants. But give Max Holloway everything you want!" [Translated from Spanish to English]
See Tebas response to Ilia Topuria below:
Ilia Topuria tells Alex Volkanovski to meet him in Madrid as he shoots down rematch in Australia
Ilia Topuria secured the featherweight title after knocking Alexander Volkanovski out when the pair met at UFC 298. 'El Matador' will now face Max Holloway, who is hungry to reclaim the title he lost to Volkanovski in 2019 at UFC 245.
Should Topuria defeat Holloway at UFC 308, Volkanovski mentioned his desire to face the Spaniard in a rematch at UFC 312 in February, which takes place in Australia.
During the champion's pre-fight media appearance, he was informed of his former opponent's comments. He responded with this:
"Listen, if that makes [Volkanovski] feel happy, thinking that maybe I will go to Australia. That's okay... But that's never going to happen. I'm the champion, and if you want to fight for the title again, it has to be in Madrid instead of fighting in Australia in front of your people. Why would I give you that advantage?"
Catch Ilia Topuria's response below (8:15):