Ilia Topuria's callout of Max Holloway was ice cold
Ilia Topuria promises to 'take your lights out' if he ever fights Max Holloway.
By Amy Kaplan
Everyone was certain that UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria was frightened after watching Max Holloway dominate and then knock out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. But his recent tweet proves otherwise.
The reigning champion, who earned his title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, tweeted to Holloway after the fight. "Congrats on your performance Max," he wrote. "Respect your story and everything you achieved with a beautiful family. Hopefully we gonna share the octagon before the end of the year and trust me you gonna feel something that you never felt before. I will be the first one to take your lights out. Philippians 4:13.
Fans took to the comments of the tweet to react to the ice-cold call out. "Adding a bible verse directly after saying you will knock someone out cold is kinda funny," someone tweeted. Another fan wrote, "Damnnnnnnnnn let’s go !!!! That’s bada*s man. Fast response & zero hesitation."
Ilia Topuria uses bible verse to call out Max Holloway after UFC 300
Congrats on your performance Max . Respect your story and everything you achieved with a beautiful family . Hopefully we gonna share the octagon before the end of the year and trust me you gonna feel something that you never felt before . I will be the first one to take your…
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) April 15, 2024
Directly after the fight Topuria was interviewed by ESPN and he seemed eager to fight Holloway. “It’s clear for me, my next fight is against Max Holloway,” Topuria said in Spanish (translated via ESPN). “Congratulations and enjoy tonight, but after fighting me he will have to go back in the line.”
When asked about this in his post-fight interview Holloway simply laughed and said, “That’s cool. What am I going to say? What if he goes to the back of the line? So at the end of the day, we find out. Like I said, we’ve got questions. We’re in the fighting game. Ilia can talk, but I’ve got a lot of questions. I like listening and if that ever gets booked, you guys are going to see a lot of answers. So I’m excited for it.”
It's unclear when or if this fight will actually happen but Holloway is a great candidate for Topuria's first title defense. The former long standing featherweight champion now holds the BMF title following his win over Gaethje. At one time Holloway appeared unbeatable. He lost three fights, including his title to Volkanovski and has climbed his way back up to possibly regaining his throne.