Joe Rogan, a longtime UFC commentator, revealed that the organization's current featherweight champion Elijah Topuria did not want a rematch with Alex Volkanovski, the organization's former champion in the division, at UFC 305, which takes place Aug. 17 in Perth.
"I don't know who he wants to fight next, but I think he feels like a champion and thinks he can pick his fights. I know he turned down a rematch with Volkanovski at UFC 305," Rogan said on his YouTube channel.
The fight between Elijah Topuria and Alex Volkanovski took place in February of this year, ending with Topuria winning by knockout in the second round.
Max Holloway, the former UFC featherweight champion, mocked the thrashtalk of Elijah Topuria, the organization's current featherweight champion.
"That's the kind of person he is. We exchanged Bible references on social media. Everybody was saying I won this duel 10-8. And then he threw me a whole paragraph. I didn't even read it, it was so long. I couldn't finish it, so I passed out. He's acting like a mean girlfriend. Even my wife doesn't text me like that. I started reading his sheet and I thought, fuck it. What's wrong with you? I had to check to see if the message was from my wife. What the hell?" - Holloway pronounced on Joe Rogan's podcast.
Max Holloway, former UFC featherweight champion, has stated his desire to fight the promotion's current featherweight champion Elijah Topuria in Las Vegas.
"Hopefully the fight with Topuria will be in Vegas. How about the 66,000-seat Elligent Stadium? Now that would be something. Did you see how many Hawaiian flags there were at UFC 300? Vegas is our ninth island. Since we can't have a UFC tournament in Hawaii, let's fight in a soccer stadium in Vegas. Let's make it crazy," Holloway stated on Joe Rogan's podcast.
Recall, earlier Holloway reported that he was knocked out during his fight with Justin Gaethje.
UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has spoken out about a possible fight with lower division titleholder Sean O'Malley.
"O'Malley is going to have a fight against Dvalishvili. Merab will kick his ass. If not, I'll wait for Sean. There's no point in us fighting now because O'Malley has a challenger that deserves this fight. I honestly think Dvalishvili will beat him.
I've already congratulated O'Malley on his first defense. He said: "Defend your title. If everything goes right, our fight will be the loudest fight in UFC history." That's what we're going for. If he defends his belt, our fight will be the biggest fight in history. If we can make it at the Sanyago Bernabeu, all the better," MMA Fighting quoted Topuria as saying.
Ivan Flores, coach of former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, gave his assessment of current titleholder Elijah Topuria, who is expected to be his charge's next opponent.
"You know, he's a pretty strong boxer. His hand speed especially stands out. The guy is aggressive, confident, but the most dangerous quality is his hand speed.
I would say that in a way he fights like a big-sized heavyweight. This is because of his physique and height. But still, his speed should be noted despite being a bit large. The guy has everything to fight in the welterweight division," - quotes the words of the specialist MMA Junkie.
Recall that the last fight Topuria held on February 17 at UFC 298, knocking out Alex Volkanovski.