If Ilia Topuria sticks to his recent stipulation for a title fight with Max Holloway, it would go against the idea behind what Topuria wants to get his hands on in the first place, Holloway believes.
UFC featherweight champion Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) said after Saturday’s hyperdramatic UFC 300 “BMF” title win at the hands of Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) that it is likely the former champion deserved another title shot.
But then Topuria said he would only give Holloway a chance to win the title if the “BMF” title given to Holloway against Justin Gaethje was also up for grabs. And while that may seem like a natural and reasonable request, Holloway has also raised a bit of an eyebrow.
“We’ll see what happens. I mean, that’s not exactly a BMF way of putting it, you know? Holloway said on “The Jim Rome Show.” “A BMF wouldn’t say, ‘I’m not going to fight this guy unless this…’ That’s kind of un-BMF. That didn’t sound BMF like he’s trying to demand and say, ‘I’m not going to fight… .’
Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title. Volkanovski has three wins over Holloway in featherweight title fights and is the only featherweight to defeat Holloway in the past decade.
But Topuria said in the absence of that BMF belt he is not interested in fighting Holloway.
“Without the BMF belt I don’t want it at all,” Topuria said on Monday. “If not, I will fight Volkanovski, who deserves the rematch more than he does. Because (Holloway) has that (BMF) belt, I’m excited about that. That’s why I want him. He said, ‘Right now I have a lot of options’ and this and that. He has no options. I am the champion now.”
Topuria believes he can put the featherweight title on the line for the first time this fall – provided Holloway puts that BMF title on the line.
But Holloway still thinks the mere question makes Topuria take a step back.
“A BMF fights anytime – fights anyone, anytime, any weight,” Holloway said. “That’s not the tone of a BMF, brother. We’ll see what happens. Whatever the UFC wants to do, they want to do. I just want to be in the octagon with him. I want to see what the hype is about.”
Topuria backed up his hype against Volkanovski. He is the only undefeated champion in the UFC.
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC 300.
The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
