Max Holloway explains why Ilia Topuria "might be lacking a little bit in fight IQ" ahead of UFC 308 title clash
Max Holloway recently discussed his title matchup with Ilia Topuria ahead of UFC 308. Holloway claimed that despite being a strong athlete, Topuria needs to work on his fight IQ.
Holloway and Topuria have been taking jabs at each other through various interviews and social media posts as they prepare for their featherweight title fight in the main event of UFC 308, which is set to go down on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
In an interview with MMA Junkie last month, Topuria issued a serious warning to Holloway, who has yet to suffer a knockout loss in his professional MMA career. The Spaniard threatened to knock out Holloway in the first round if the Hawaiian points to the ground, as he did in the final stages of his fight with Justin Gaethje. Topuria even warned 'Blessed' to wear a helmet during the fight.
Topuria's remarks prompted a response from Holloway, who recently spoke to Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA. The 32-year-old said:
"I saw an interview of him [Topuria] saying that: ‘Bring the last 10 seconds to the first 10 seconds of the fight,’ which is his fight IQ might not be there. His athleticism and his power and strength is there, but (he) might be lacking a little bit in fight IQ. So, after saying that, I was like, ‘Brother, you’ve got to go work on your brain, my guy. I mean, there’s reasons, there are opportunities, there are chances you do that kind of stuff. We’ll see what happens.''
Check out Max Holloway's comments below (11:47):
Holloway secured a devastating knockout at UFC 300 and captured the BMF belt from Gaethje. Meanwhile, Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to become the new featherweight champion.
Max Holloway isn't concerned about Ilia Topuria's claims regarding their title fight
In the aforementioned interview with MMA Junkie, Ilia Topuria made some bold claims regarding his title fight with Max Holloway at UFC 308. Topuria predicted to knockout Holloway in the first round and even cited him as an easy matchup.
However, that did not appear to concern Holloway, who in his aforementioned interview with ESPN MMA said:
''Nobody can really get under my skin, bro. If we weren’t fighting and we didn’t have a fight booked, I’d be kind of annoyed just because we don’t have a fight booked. But at the end of the day, we’re booked, Oct. 26. I get to punch you in the face, kick you, hit you. I get to fight you. Why would I be mad about whatever he’s doing?'' [9:10]