Max Holloway Believes Ilia Topuria Might Be Lacking in Fight IQ

Ilia
Topuria’s latest feedback have led Max
Holloway to doubt his combat IQ.

Holloway will problem Topuria for the featherweight title within the
fundamental occasion at UFC 308
on Oct. 26 at Etihad Enviornment in Abu Dhabi. Whereas “Blessed” was
seemingly faraway from the featherweight title image till
not too long ago, when a historic BMF title win over Justin
Gaethje at UFC
300 this previous April earned him a right away gold bid.

After placing a lopsided beatdown on Gaethje all through the combat,
Holloway pointed to the bottom to face and commerce within the last
seconds and knocked “The Spotlight” out chilly. The previous
featherweight champ’s iconic gesture of pointing to floor has
already change into part of MMA folklore and can undoubtedly go down
within the historical past books.

Topuria not too long ago stated that he could be the one pointing on the
floor to coax Holloway right into a slugfest at UFC 308. The
Georgian-Spaniard additionally vowed to knock Holloway out within the first
spherical if the Hawaiian fights the best way he did within the last seconds
in opposition to Gaethje. This led “Blessed” to query the undefeated
champ’s combat IQ. Holloway hinted that whereas there are events to
create these moments, it is not uncommon sense to not combat within the first
spherical like he would within the final. Nevertheless, Holloway admits that he
could be tempted to face and commerce with Topuria if the latter
tries to instigate it.

Ilia Topuria says he’ll KO Max Holloway if
he decides to face and bang like he did with Justin Gaethje 😳

“If he is gonna deliver the identical power he brings within the final 10
seconds of each spherical, when he [points his finger to the ground],
I am gonna knock him out within the first… pic.twitter.com/yMSxM2BCFZ

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
August 21, 2024

“I noticed an interview of him saying that, ‘Deliver the final 10 seconds
to the primary 10 seconds of the combat.’ Which is, his combat IQ would possibly
not be there,” Holloway not too long ago advised ESPN. “His athleticism and his energy and
power is there however could be missing a bit of in combat IQ. So,
after saying that I used to be like, ‘Brother you gotta go work in your
mind, my man.’ I imply there’s causes, there alternatives, there
probabilities you try this sort of stuff. We’ll see what occurs. If he
does it, how can I step down from that? That’ll be a enjoyable one… I
by no means noticed him also have a second like that with anyone but. So to
do it in opposition to a man who loves to do this, we’ll see that. I’m
excited he says that sort of stuff.”