- Max Holloway doesn’t think Ilia Topuria deserves to do his signature point-down gesture at UFC 308
- “Blessed” accused “El Matador” of copying Conor McGregor
- The former featherweight champ commented on his BMF title
Max Holloway blasted Ilia Topuria for stealing Conor McGregor’s persona and thinking about doing the point-down gesture. He also shared his real thoughts on the BMF title.
Ilia is a Conor copycat
Speaking to the media ahead of UFC 308, “Blessed” stressed that “El Matador” shouldn’t continue with his plan to point down the canvas during their upcoming title fight. For Holloway, only few fighters have earned the right to do his signature gesture and Topuria is certainly not one of them.
Moreover, Holloway is just irked by the idea that the reigning featherweight champion is a “copycat” of McGregor.
“To me, I don’t think he deserves it. You gotta earn that right [to point down to the canvas] and I don’t think he deserves that right. You know the guy he’s copycatting. This guy is a copycat, down to his tattoos, his aura, to the way he’s approaching fights. The guy is a copycat, and you’re best friends with the guy [McGregor] he’s tryin to copy,” Holloway said.
“At the end of the day, I think you gotta earn that moment. I believe he could have earned it with Josh Emmett… Josh Emmett was trying to swing… When Josh Emmett tried to swing, someone [Topuria] shot [a takedown] and someone holds him down for the rest of the fight… He’s just tryna steal stuff. He’s already tryna steal one person’s [McGregor’s] aura, and now he’s tryna steal somebody else’s thing,” he added.
Max Holloway calls Ilia Topuria a "copycat" of Conor McGregor, and says he doesn't deserve to do the 'point-down' gesture:
"You gotta earn that right… this guy's a copycat, down to the tattoos, to his aura, to the way he's approaching fights…
He's just tryna steal stuff.… pic.twitter.com/LgoxfvJdQz
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 23, 2024
The BMF title is nothing to Max
Holloway knocked Justin Gaethje out in the last second of their BMF title fight at UFC 300. While that has already been etched in history, “Blessed” doesn’t understand why people are so crazy about the BMF title, which he called “fake.”
For Holloway, the only title that matters is the UFC featherweight title.
“The BMF title guys, I don’t even know what’s going on, why people are so crazy about it. Before the title, it was supposed to be a fake title, after the title, now everybody wants the fake title. And people getting mad for me for not putting up like I have that type of control in this fight to put up a fake title and then the guy I’m fighting, if it’s a fake title, he brought a fake-fake title. That just doesn’t make sense to me,” Holloway explained.
https://x.com/ChampRDS/status/1849036220531114130
Holloway and Topuria will take on each other this weekend at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria will look to defend his featherweight title for the first time via a knockout, while “Blessed” will try and reclaim the belt once again.
