Conor McGregor doesn’t have anything good to say about reigning UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
The former 145-pound king addressed Topuria during a live chat on Monday, with the Irish superstar erupting when asked for an opinion about him. McGregor likened Topuria to former friend and teammate Artem Lobov, who is now involved in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against him over profits from the sale of his Proper 12 Irish whiskey.
“F*ck him, too,” McGregor said of Topuria. “I don’t give a f*ck about him either. He reminds me of a little r*tard Artem Lobov. Topuria, [he] does, two little r*tards.”
So why doesn’t McGregor like Topuria very much?
Well, it apparently comes down to money rather than the spirit of competition.
McGregor took issue with Topuria becoming featherweight champion in February and then immediately talking about his increasing star power. Topuria claimed that by 2025, he will become the highest paid athlete in the world.
McGregor, who actually held that spot in 2021 according to Forbes Magazine, mocked Topuria for that statement and his misapprehension about making a list like that in 2025 when the counting begins a year earlier.
“I’ll tell you why I said what I said about him,” McGregor said. “Because he’s talking about, he’s going to be the highest paid athlete in 2025. It’s 2024. It’s actually now. The 2025 highest paid athlete list begins right now. The list came out only recent and that means he’s going to have to rake in about $200, $300 million. Don’t be silly, lad.
“It just reminded me of Artem Lobov. Just a stupid, little fool. Talking billions from a f*cking banger of a car. Thinks he knows it all, he’s only a little baldy fool.”
While Topuria has teased a possible move to lightweight, it’s virutally impossible that McGregor would ever entertain a return to his old stomping grounds at 145 pounds.
Regardless of weight class, McGregor doesn’t seem interesting in actually fighting Topuria because the featherweight champ hasn’t done enough yet to earn that opportunity.
In fact, McGregor expects former foe Max Holloway to dispatch Topuria if they meet in a matchup that’s currently being targeted to take place sometime before the end of 2024.
“Holloway, too light, too fast,” McGregor said. “I think Holloway picks him apart. If they fight. Holloway has done it, he has that featherweight title. He’s had it for a long time. He’s now the ‘BMF.’ Topuria, for me, is a non-champion in my opinion. He might have a strap but it’s a meaningless strap, in my opinion, as he holds it. I don’t see any attraction to it. What’s he Georgian? Spanish? What is he? I don’t even know where he is.”
More than anything, McGregor just doesn’t understand the attraction to Topuria in recent months since becoming champion with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski.
“I don’t get the buzz with him,” McGregor said. “There is no buzz with him. He needs to keep fighting. Topuria needs to keep fighting.”
Even though he mostly focused his opinion on the current UFC champ at 145 pounds, McGregor didn’t have much kind to say about the previous person to hold the title either.
“Thoughts on Volkanovski?” McGregor said. “No thoughts. F*ck him too. I’d have kicked his head clean off his shoulders and that’s a fact.”
