After defeating Justin Gaethje by knockout in April, Hawaiian fighter Max Holloway is set to move back down to featherweight and take on current Champion, Ilia Topuria this Saturday.
The UFC 308 Press Conference on the 24th of October included accusations from both Topuria and Holloway. With Topuria consistently stating that fight will end with Holloway being knocked out within the first round. Holloway seemed less on the offensive, simply replying ‘We will find out Saturday night’ to most remarks. The taunting did not stop at the press conference. During the ESPN Media Day, Holloway was adorned with a Barcelona jersey; undeniably to rile Topuria up as he is unable to watch his favourite football team, Real Madrid, play Barcelona as it is during the fight.
Both the champ and opponent seem relaxed and confident in their ability to win, but do the odds say the same?
Information taken from UK betting site, Paddy Power, presents Topuria as the clear favourite with his odds currently at 1/3 (25/10/24). With a fifteen victory winning streak, it is clear to see why. Coming from a wrestling background, Topuria is known more for his grappling, with eight wins by submission alone. However, his power should not be underestimated. Despite being a mere 5’ 7, Topuria has gained five KO/TKOs in his professional career. This includes his last fight, against Alexander Volkanovski, which made him the Featherweight champ; landing a perfect right-hand three minutes and thirty-two seconds into the second round. This compares with Holloway’s own fight with Volkanovski, where Alexander won by decision after all five rounds, earning him the belt.
While Ilia seems to be the bookies’ favourite, Holloway is arguably a future hall of fame member in the UFC world. Being 32 years old, Holloway has arguably more valuable experience, starting his professional career five years before Topuria. As well as this, like Ilia’s wrestling, Holloway has his own personal skills. His boxing power is possibly unmatched in the Featherweight division with twelve KO/TKOs in his career. This can also be seen by the several UFC records he holds, including both the most number of significant strikes landed in his career (with a total of 3,378) and most number of significant strikes landed in a single fight. This was in his fight against Calvin Kattar, where Max pommeled Kattar with 445 significant strikes, severely cutting his face in the process and receiving a victory by unanimous decision.
Overall, Holloway is an extremely confident fighter with his signature being pointing to the ground during the last moments of the final round (his Stand and Bang), enticing his opponent in for one last fight and putting it all on the line for a potential knockout finish. This was most notable in his last victory against Justin Gaethje, knocking him out at four minutes and fifty-nine seconds of the final round. As well as this, back in his fight against Kattar, Holloway not only started to listen to the commentators in the last round but also began to talk back to them exclaiming “I’m the best boxer in the UFC,” while blindly dodging his opponents strikes.
In conclusion, this is certainly an interesting matchup. While a Topuria victory seems likely, it is safe to say that Max Holloway is the peoples’ champ and with nothing to lose, he will certainly give this fight his all to get his long awaited title back.
Will Topuria’s wish of a first round knockout come true or will he be subjected to Holloway’s Stand and Bang?
Find out this Saturday.