UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria boasts he’ll be the first to knock out Max Holloway when they compete for the UFC 308 featherweight title Saturday, but Holloway doesn’t seem bothered by the smack talk, accusing Topuria of trying to impersonate UFC great Conor McGregor.

The 27-year-old Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) told MMA Junkie he will point to the middle of the octagon for a throwdown of the battle Saturday in Abu Dhabi, as Holloway did when fighting Justin Gaethje for the symbolic BMF title at UFC 300 in April. That didn’t end well for Gaethje, who was sent to the canvas by Holloway’s powerful right hand in the final seconds of the fight.

“It just makes no sense,” Holloway said of Topuria’s trash talk. “To me, I don’t think he deserves — you’ve got to earn that right. I don’t think he deserves that right. I mean, you guys know the guy he’s copycatting. This guy is a copycat down to his tattoos, to his aura, to the way he’s approaching fights. The guy is a copycat.”

Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) insisted Topuria hasn’t earned that right despite an opportunity to do so despite his 2023 defeat of Josh Emmett by unanimous decision.

“At the end of the day, I think you’ve got to earn that moment, and I believe he could have earned it with Josh Emmett,” said Holloway, a 32-year-old Hawaiian. “In their five-round war, Josh Emmett was trying to swing. If you guys go back to that fight and watch what happened, when Josh Emmett tried to swing, someone shot, and someone held someone down for the rest of the fight.

“So, I think the moment needs to be earned, and he’s just trying to steal stuff. He’s already trying to steal one person’s aura, and now he’s trying to steal somebody else’s thing.”

–Field Level Media