Max Holloway has never had much use for trash talk during his career and that includes opponents trying desperately to lure him into a war of words before a fight.
The latest example is featherweight champion Ilia Topuria taking shots at Holloway ahead of their main event fight at UFC 308 in October. Topuria has effectively called Holloway an easy fight and promised that he’s going to be the first person to put the Hawaiian away by knockout — even predicting an early finish if they start trading bombs in the opening round.
For his part, Holloway thinks that Topuria is talking a good game, but in reality, his brash 27-year-old opponent is actually just an admirer of his work.
“After the [UFC] 300 moment, the camera’s on him and the dude is just … he’s him, he’s himself. He’s an odd fella I would say,” Holloway told ESPN. “I just noticed yesterday some people were tagging me on Twitter that he commented on one of my Instagram posts saying ‘let’s go Max.’ I think he’s a fan of me.
“I think he’s a fan of me, and I think he can’t deny it. I think deep down inside, he’s really cheering for me, which is kind of weird, but he’s an odd fella. He’s an odd fella for sure.”
When it comes to everything Topuria has said leading up to the fight, Holloway pays attention but he’s not losing any sleep over it.
With 29 fights in the UFC over the past 12 plus years, Holloway has endured opponents make all sorts of outlandish claims so it’s not like Topuria is saying anything he hasn’t heard before.
“What showed or what did I say or what did I do to show that he’s under my skin?” Holloway said. “That’s news to me. That’s funny. Nobody can really get under my skin.
“At the end of the day, if we wasn’t fighting, if we didn’t have a fight booked, I’d be kind of annoyed just because we don’t have a fight booked. But at the end of the day, we’re booked Oct. 26, I get to punch you in the face, kick you, hit you, I get to fight you. So why would I be mad about whatever he’s doing? The guy is writing checks right now that his body might not be able to cash. The greatest thing ever is we get to find out Oct. 26.”
While Topuria is seemingly looking at the upcoming fight as just a bump in the road when it comes to his career, Holloway refuses to discount the featherweight champion as anything less than an incredibly difficult challenge.
“I’d be lying to you if I said he wasn’t good,” Holloway said. “He beat a guy [in Alexander Volkanovski] that I had three cracks at and couldn’t figure out. He went in there one time and a lot of guys are going to say [Volkanovski] was hurt and I understand but Volk felt like he was good enough to go in there and he did what did.”
Holloway obviously prefers to let his fighting do the talking for him, which is why he’s so anxious to get back to work in October.
Between now and then, Topuria will almost certainly continue to take aim at him through interviews and social media posts.
If anything, Holloway hopes he keeps that same energy when they actually meet in the cage because that’s going to serve as the ultimate proving ground rather than verbally sparring with each other in some kind of half-assed shouting contest.
“He thinks he knows something,” Holloway said. “I’ve seen him say he thinks he’s going to be the first one to put me out. If that’s what you need to get yourself to the fight, please keep telling yourself that all the way to Oct. 26. Because when we get in that octagon, that cage door closes, we get to find out.
“All this he said, she said stuff is going to go out the window, and we get to find out who’s going to be the champion after that night.”
