UFC 318 headliner Max Holloway does not think Ilia Topuria’s recent run of knockouts is as impressive as many believe it to be.
Topuria completed his ascent to two-division glory late last month when he headlined the UFC’s International Fight Week pay-per-view in Las Vegas. After bidding farewell to his reign as featherweight king, Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to collect the vacant lightweight crown.
Given that the Spaniard’s latest triumph followed similar brutal wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Holloway, many think ‘El Matador’ has accumulated the greatest three-fight run in UFC history.
But despite being part of that owing to Topuria’s successful defense at UFC 308 last October, ‘Blessed’ sees things differently.
Renato Moicano pushes back on Max Holloway downplaying Ilia Topuria’s run
During promotional work for Holloway’s UFC 318 main event against Dustin Poirier, the current BMF champ attempted to downplay Topuria’s violent streak.
The Hawaiian pointed to Volkanovski’s KO against Islam Makhachev, his tough cut back down to featherweight, and Oliveira’s inconsistent form to cast doubt over the newly crowned champ’s run.
Another of the 155-pound division’s top names believes Holloway was wrong to do so.
“If Volk did not win the belt again, I would agree,” Moicano said on his Show Me The Money podcast. “At the same time, he is champion now. So I don’t agree (with Holloway).
“Max, Charles, and Volkanovski. That is an impressive résumé,” Moicano insisted.
Max Holloway targets second shot at Ilia Topuria in a different weight class
Having pointed to his tough return to 145 pounds as one of the contributing factors in Topuria becoming the first man to knock him out clean, Holloway could have the chance to prove himself right down the line.
With both ‘Blessed’ and ‘El Matador’ seemingly having no plans to return to the featherweight division, they now find themselves back in the same weight class.
Just like before, Holloway is chasing a shot at Topuria, and he could move considerably closer to that at UFC 318 on July 19 by spoiling the retirement party of the No. 6-ranked Poirier in New Orleans.
On the other side, a third loss to a man competing for the final time would deal a significant blow to the Hawaiian’s ambitions of adding a new piece of UFC gold to his trophy cabinet.
