Ilia Topuria fires back at Max Holloway's BMF title criticism: 'I put you to sleep'
Holloway (27-8 MMA, 23-8 UFC) captured the BMF strap at UFC 300 in April 2024 when he scored a last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje. His next fight came against Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) at UFC 308 in October, but the BMF belt was not on the line, and therefor Holloway technically kept it despite being stopped by strikes.
It was back up for grabs this past weekend when Holloway defeated Dustin Poirier by unanimous decision in the UFC 318 main event, and afterward "Blessed" dissed for Topuria to keep trotting around the non-legitimate version of the silver title.
That doesn't bother Topuria one bit, he said, because even if Holloway or the UFC doesn't recognize it as official, he's certain that the only BMF around is himself.
"That's not my problem," Topuria told the Nelk Boys. "I just knocked him out. How can you still be the BMF if I knocked you out? I pointed to the ground in the first 10 seconds. You ran away. Then I caught you anyways and I put you to sleep. And you're still the BMF? How's that?"
Holloway has made it clear he wants revenge on now-lightweight champion Topuria in the form of a rematch. UFC CEO Dana White expressed interest in possibly running it back with the BMF officially at stake, but he did not commit to Holloway being next.
Topuria said he does not have any confirmation about his next opponent, but Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett have all made the argument to having a case.
"I think they are going to try to push for Justin," Topuria said. "That's what I think. Or maybe Paddy. There's not even a conversation about Arman. ... He needs to fight."
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