Max Holloway shares in-cage conversation with Ilia Topuria, puts forward theory about 'El Matador's' trash-talking
Max Holloway has opened up about his conversation with Ilia Topuria that transpired inside the octagon after their fight. 'Blessed' also gave his hypothesis regarding Topuria's penchant for utilizing trash talk heading into his fights.
Holloway, who's the ex-UFC featherweight champion attempted to reclaim the belt by fighting current featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria. The BMF belt wasn't at stake in the matchup that headlined UFC 308 on Oct. 26, 2024.
Topuria defended his featherweight belt by stopping Holloway via third-round KO. 'El Matador' subsequently expressed his respect for the former champion during his post-fight octagon interview and backstage interview as well.
During Max Holloway's post-fight press conference segment, a reporter pointed out that the Hawaiian fighter and Ilia Topuria shook hands and had a conversation inside the octagon. Upon being asked whether he could share what they said to one another during that talk, Holloway responded by praising Ilia and his older brother Aleksandre Topuria:
"I just told him congrats. You know, he was telling me I'm a legend. You know, all that talk that he does I think he just does it for you guys, you know. He seems like a really good -- cool guy. So at the end of the day, he's being nice, you know, telling me I was a legend, telling me he watched my career coming up, and he takes a lot of inspiration, him and his brother. His brother is nice and cool."
Moreover, Max Holloway addressed Ilia Topuria's tendency for engaging in trash-talking against most of his opponents. Suggesting that it was Topuria's way of generating buzz around his fights by portraying a media image of being a trash talker, Holloway said:
"So it is what it is, you know. It's a media game. That's the way he wants to play it. That's the way he plays it. But behind the scenes, he's a cool guy."
Check out Max Holloway's comments below:
Watch Max Holloway's post-fight press conference below:
Max Holloway responds to Ilia Topuria walking around with BMF belt after UFC 308
Ilia Topuria, who'd often posed with Holloway's BMF belt, walked around with the BMF title backstage after UFC 308 as well. Upon being asked about it, Holloway highlighted that he'd won that belt at lightweight.
'Blessed' recounted UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev's KO win over then-UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in October 2023. Drawing an analogy, he indicated that Makhachev didn't receive Volkanovski's featherweight belt because their fight took place at lightweight.
After Topuria's thrilling win over Holloway, UFC head honcho Dana White implied that they'd probably erred by not putting the BMF belt at stake. Nevertheless, White acknowledged that Holloway is still the BMF champion. Meanwhile, Holloway signaled that a BMF title match is generally decided based on the fans' lobbying and selection of deserving candidates:
"If the UFC really wanted to make it happen, they would have put it up. And I don't know why they didn't. But Dana said what he said. So he's the boss man." [7:40-minute mark of the post-fight press conference]