Ilia Topuria’s confidence has only grown since he became the UFC featherweight champion.

In his first title defense, Topuria will be met with one of the toughest challengers imaginable. At UFC 308 on Oct. 26, Topuria attempts to take out the division’s former champion and current BMF champion Max Holloway in an expected battle for the ages.

If that isn’t your most-anticipated fight currently booked, please explain yourself in the comments below. After Holloway’s stunningly epic lightweight performance to capture the BMF crown against Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, the proud Hawaiian could have been “Blessed” with a heavyweight title shot and fans would believe he’d have a shot to win.

Unfortunately for Topuria, his request to have both belts on the line in this upcoming matchup was not met by the promotion.

“No, the BMF title is not going to be on the line,” Topuria told MMA Junkie. “To be honest, I don’t care. They took that decision, and at the end of the day, it’s like, when I’m going to beat him he can’t say he’s a BMF or however they want to call him. I’m just concentrating on my title defense and that’s it. I don’t care about anything else.”

Topuria shocked the world when he fulfilled his self-proposed prophecy by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in round two of UFC 298’s main event in February. We knew the undefeated 15-0 “Matador” was a legitimately elite 145-pound fighter. Doing what he did to “The Great” featherweight legend was still a sight to behold regardless.

Against Holloway, Topuria is expecting an even better performance out of himself, which simply seems impossible, all things considered. Holloway, 32, has fought some of the greatest fighters in and out of his weight class throughout his 33-fight career (26-7) and hadn’t suffered a knockdown until the aforementioned last fight against Gaethje.

Despite that, the 27-year-old champion believes all he needs is one to get it done.

“No doubt about that,” Topuria said of his knockout prediction. “What makes me so excited about this fight is that no one could knock him out. There’s no way I’m not going to knock him out. I will be the first one to knock him out because every time I watch him fight I’m like, ‘I’m way better than him.’ If you put me with him in kickboxing or boxing, even in a chess match, I beat him. Whatever you want to do, boy, I can beat you.

“I respect Max Holloway. He’s been a great fighter. He gave us great fights. He seems to be a good person. I respect him. But I don’t know, I feel like I’m way better than him everywhere. It’s going to be a complete masterpiece. You will see. I will knock him out in the first round. There is no doubts about that. It’s going to be much easier than with Volkanovski, because I considered Volkanovski is way more difficult matchup for me, and he beat that guy three times.”

TOP STORIES

Beef. Ronda Rousey felt she had to save women’s MMA, no one wanted to watch ‘that cheating ass b*tch’ Cris Cyborg; Cyborg responds

Backlash. Dana White calls Merab Dvalishvili ‘next-level stupid’ for posting cut picture before UFC 306

Trouble. UFC veteran Casey Kenney arrested on kidnapping, multiple assault charges

Take. Sean Strickland shares his ‘unpopular opinion’ on Israel Adesanya: ‘Izzy’s not that f*cking good’

Accountability. Dana White takes full responsibility for Francis Ngannou scrubbing from UFC 305 video: ‘Blame me for that’

Locked. Chad Mendes still under UFC contract, cites condition for potential return

Onward. Dan Hooker says UFC targeting Charles Oliveira matchup next: ‘That’s a good fight’

LET’S WATCH

No commentary.

Full fights.

PFL Fight Week.

Belal’s celebration tour.

Chandler loves water.

Subs with Craig.

Fancy Shoulder Ripper.

LISTEN UP

No Bets Barred. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew talks changing of the guard at UFC Vegas 96, plus a major announcement.

MORNING MUSIC

We always vibe for new Wallice around here.

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

This month’s full playlist:

SOCIAL SCROLL DOWN

Rivalry renewed.

Backup...

Media day.

Reaction.

Normal.

Just Angie.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Thomas Almeida (22-5) vs. Taylor Moore (12-8); Art of Scrap 9, Sept. 14

Karine Silva (18-4) vs. Viviane Araújo (12-6); UFC 309, Nov. 16

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am so ready for Topuria vs. Holloway that it isn’t even funny. It should be illegal to have as wide of a gap between Max’s last fight and this one.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.