Anyone can be knocked out, invincibility is a myth. This fact has been established in combat sports, time and time again. Max Holloway came to the main event of UFC 308 as a fighter who has never been knocked out. But the reigning UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria knew what he was about to do.
Topuria pointed to the ground, asking Holloway to meet him in the middle of the octagon. Holloway playfully became ‘The Matador’ to El Matador, asking Topuria to charge at him. Max Holloway had his moments in the fight, pointing Topuria with his jab. But you can’t keep Ilia Topuria quiet for long.
And the third round etched Topuria’s name in the history books. A thunderous right hand from Topuria that had Holloway stunned, followed by a left hook a few seconds later that finally knocked him down. After that, all it took were a few follow-up shots to shut Max Holloway’s lights out!
Let’s get one thing straight: Max Holloway is one of the toughest fighters to ever step in the octagon. Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Alexander Volkanovski, Yair Rodriguez, Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, The Korean Zombie, Arnold Allen- The Blessed Express has fought them all. Damn, the dude was ready to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on short notice!
But the power of Ilia Topuria is otherworldly. To put someone’s lights out is one thing, but doing it to the likes of Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski is something else. The current UFC Featherweight champ Topuria has brutal KO wins over two of the greatest featherweights ever. He is the first and the only guy to knock out Holloway and Volk at the 145-pound division.
Ilia Topuria Next Fight: Who will the El Matador fight next?
Ilia Topuria’s next fight will most probably be against Alexander Volkanovski. Topuria has expressed interest in moving up a weight class to set up a match with the lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev.
But during the post-match octagon interview after his win at UFC 308, Topuria was very respectful towards former featherweight champion Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski. He did acknowledge that Volk should get a rematch for the title.
When asked by Daniel Cormier who’s next for Topuria, the Georgian-Spaniard responded, “We are going to do this again, you (Volkanovski) deserve that. This man defended his title so many times. If someone deserves it, it’s him.”
When will Topuria vs. Volkanovski 2 happen?
The date for the Topuria vs. Volkanovski rematch has not been announced yet. But given that UFC just announced that UFC 312 will take place in Sydney, Australia, there is a good chance that we might see Ilia Topuria back in action on 9th February, 2025.
