Ilia Topuria Claims Max Holloway Initially Wanted to Avoid Fighting Him

The tension is rising as Ilia Topuria (15-0) and Max Holloway (26-7) near their featherweight title clash.

Holloway will challenge Topuria in the main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Topuria recently accused Holloway of trying to avoid fighting him in the beginning.

Holloway initially claimed that he called for a title shot against Topuria. However, Topuria refutes that claim, saying a challenger doesn’t get to call his shots anyway. Holloway earned his claim to title contention with a BMF title win over Justin Gaethje at lightweight this past April. According to Topuria, he asked for the Holloway matchup for his first title defense.

According to Topuria, Holloway allegedly tried his best to dodge the fight in favor of staying put at lightweight. Topuria claims it was the UFC who eventually forced “Blessed” to accept the booking.

UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway Saturday at 2 PM ET on ESPN+. Order Now!

"He was avoiding to fight me all the time. He said something like, ‘I said to the UFC that I want the easiest fight, that I want to fight with Ilia Topuria.’ That’s a lie. A challenger never chooses fights. Never,” Topuria told Ariel Helwani. “I’m the champion, I choose who I want to fight. And I said I want to fight Max Holloway. And they [UFC] told me he's asking to stay in the 155 division, to fight with Michael Chandler. I don't know he asked about many, many guys.. They told him, ‘No Max you have to fight with Ilia because he wants to fight you.’ So finally he has to accept but in the beginning he was trying really, really hard to avoid me.”

😬Ilia Topuria claims Max Holloway was trying to avoid fighting him but the UFC forced Max to fight him:

"He was avoiding to fight me all the time...they (UFC) told me he's asking to stay in the 155 division, to fight with Michael Chandler, I don't know he asked about many, many… pic.twitter.com/Ejk3xvOsoV

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 15, 2024

Topuria won the title with a knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 this past February and is 15-0 as a professional overall.