Max Holloway's two-time rival Dustin Poirier "blown away" with Ilia Topuria's UFC 308 performance: "It’s time to give him his flowers"
Ilia Topuria followed through on his prediction that he would be the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway when the pair fought at UFC 308, leaving much of the MMA world stunned. Holloway's former two-time opponent, Dustin Poirier, believes it's time that the Spaniard is granted the respect his deserves.
Before the bout, 'The Diamond' said that he found it difficult to imagine Topuria putting Holloway out cold. But after the sensational win, 'El Matador's' doubters are now few and far between.
At just 27 years old, the featherweight champion has knocked out arguably the two best featherweights of all time in back-to-back fights, Alexander Volkanovski and now Holloway.
Following Topuria's incredible UFC 308 performance, Poirier reflected on the Spaniard being the first man to knock 'Blessed' out during ESPN MMA's post-fight show. He said:
"I am more than impressed. I am blown away. Not that I didn't think it could happen, of course it could happen, Topuria is an incredible boxer. Big power, sits down on all his punches, great technique. I just didn't think it would happen. You saw him standing in that octagon with the rose in his hand? Now it's time to give him his flowers, because he is everything he said he was. He said what he was going to do, and he went out there and he did it. First man in the world to knock out a legend in Max Holloway."
Check out Dustin Poirier's review of Ilia Topuria below (0:20):
Dustin Poirier calls for Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway next
Ilia Topuria labeled himself as the "new generation" at featherweight, and despite his bold pre-fight talk, the champion is yet to falter at any point of his MMA career.
'El Matador' faced Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308, where he extended his record to 16-0 with a third-round knockout win.
Given Topuria's emergence as a contender for the title of 'best boxer in the UFC', fellow elite pugilist Dustin Poirier has offered his hand to test the striking skills of the Spaniard next.
The discussion surrounding how many fights 'The Diamond' has left in his career meant that his callout of both Topuria and 'Blessed' came as a surprise. He took to X and wrote:
"I want Max or Topuria"
Poirier continued:
"He's a great boxer let's throw them things"
Check out Dustin Poirier's callout of Ilia Topuria below: