Max Holloway thinks Ilia Topuria caught a slew of UFC legends with repeated perfect timing.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) is on one of the most impressive three-fight stretches in recent memory after scoring knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway, and most recently Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317.
Topuria handed Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) the first knockout loss of his career in their featherweight title fight at UFC 308. However, Holloway explains why Topuria’s recent run may be a product of timing.
“It’s just tough, right?” Holloway told CBS Sports. “Yeah, he beat the names, and you can’t deny that. But then when you look, it just sucks with everything that’s going on when you look at that Volk fight – Volk coming off what he did (in a knockout loss to Islam Makhachev). That’s kind of crazy. But people just look at the name. They’re not looking at the record.
“They’re just like, ‘Oh, Alex was the champ,’ and then me and then Charles. Charles was on a one-fight win streak. At the end of the day, they’re just moments and they’re just names. It is one of the greatest names, for sure, that he beat in history. But the man is doing what he’s supposed to do. The UFC are lining people up for him, and he’s just knocking them down. So, fair play to him.”
Holloway defends his BMF title in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 318 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) headliner at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
