Ilia
Topuria currently doesn’t appear to be interested in defending
his featherweight strap against anyone from his division, much to
the ire of surging contender
Movsar
Evloev
.
Oozing confidence leading up to his featherweight title shot
against
Alexander
Volkanovski, Topuria backed up his words with action,
dethroning “The Great” via a Round 2 knockout at
UFC 298 earlier this month. “El Matador” had previously made
clear his unwillingness to defend his strap against any of the
perennial featherweight contenders:
Max
Holloway,
Yair
Rodriguez or
Brian
Ortega.
Topuria issued a callout to
Conor
McGregor in his post-fight interview and more recently,
targeted retired lightweight king
Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
“I would be happy to enter the Octagon with Khabib Nurmagomedov,”
Topuria said. “He had an undefeated record at 29-0 and he had an
attractive record for me, then also history. He is a worthy and
honorable champion for me.”
Topuria also mocked
Islam
Makhachev by posting a clip of the reigning lightweight champ’s
lone career loss, which came in his UFC debut against
Adriano
Martins.