The BMF title will not be on the line at UFC 308, but Ilia Topuria believes he can have a negative impact on its relevance.
Topuria will defend his featherweight crown against former champ Max Holloway in Saturday’s headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. After going 0-3 in 145-pound title bouts against Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway was on the outside looking in when it came to the featherweight title picture. However, that changed when Topuria defeated Volkanovski to become the new featherweight king at UFC 298.
Meanwhile, Holloway moved up to 155 pounds at UFC 300, where he captured the BMF belt with an iconic fifth-round knockout of Justin Gaethje. Topuria has since stated that Holloway was reluctant to accept a championship fight at 145 pounds, and he reiterated that claim in a recent interview with CBS Sports.
“After he knocked out Justin Gaethje, I asked about Max Holloway,” Topuria said. “Before that fight, I thought of giving the rematch to Volkanovski or waiting for new contenders. Max didn’t deserve the shot [at that time]. He was beaten three times by Volk so it didn’t make any sense to face him. After his fight with Gaethje, he got that very exciting knockout in the last second, so I wanted to fight him.
“I’m the champion and I choose who to fight. UFC told me he was asking to stay in the 155-pound division and fight Chandler. They brought me many names. They basically had to force him to fight me.”
Holloway has denied Topuria’s assertion, pointing out that “El Matador” was the one who was asking for a shot at the BMF strap.
UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
“It’s funny. He says that, but then you can go and click, there’s an interview of him saying that he won’t fight me if the BMF title wasn’t on the line. The last time I checked, the BMF title is not on the line,” Holloway recently told MMAFighting.com.
“So if anybody got forced to fight, it looks like him. It came out of his own mouth. He said he wasn’t going to fight me unless the BMF title is on the line. It’s not, buddy. So I guess he played himself on that one.”
While Topuria won’t be able to take the BMF belt home if he wins at UFC 308, he believes it won’t be nearly as prestigious if he dispatches Holloway in that way that he expects.
“If you are at the point in your career where you are the BMF and you have that belt, why do you want to go down to fight for the featherweight title where you have a very low possibility to win?” Topuria said. “The only thing that makes you relevant is the BMF belt.
“You will lose a lot of value if someone comes and defeats you, even if you don’t put the BMF belt at stake. Imagine what’s going to happen after Oct. 26 when I knock him out. His belt won’t have any value anymore. You can call yourself the BMF but I’m not sure.”
