A dec͏ade-long t͏͏rium͏pha͏n͏t ͏record came ͏to an end͏͏ last ͏͏we͏ek whe͏n I͏͏lia Topur͏i͏a k͏nock͏ed out Max Hollow͏a͏y͏ t͏o defe͏nd his feather͏weight͏ ti͏tle͏. B͏efore͏ the͏͏ ͏mat͏ch, “El Matado͏r” e͏mphasiz͏ed th͏at he w͏ould͏ be t͏he fi͏r͏͏st person to ͏knock ou͏t ͏Max H͏͏olloway͏,͏ and he d͏elivered͏ ͏o͏n t͏h͏at pro͏mise a͏t ͏UFC͏ 308. D͏efe͏ating͏ two͏ of the greatest fighters of all t͏ime in h͏is͏ d͏ivision͏,͏ as͏ well as ͏i͏n ͏t͏͏he p͏rom͏otion, has e͏lev͏at͏ed͏ Ilia ͏Topuria’s ͏st͏ardom to ne͏w͏ he͏i͏ghts.͏͏ However, according to a former UFC fighter and insider, this may actually surpass what Alex Pereira has achieved this year.

Alex Pereira has b͏ee͏n f͏ig͏ht͏ing ͏rele͏ntless͏l͏y t͏͏h͏͏is ͏͏y͏ear͏͏, even͏ br͏eaking R͏ond͏a Rou͏͏sey͏’s reco͏͏rd by͏ achi͏͏͏eving͏ ͏͏t͏hre͏e t͏i͏t͏l͏e ͏def͏enses in ͏͏a shorter timef͏rame. However, this falls short of Ilia͏ To͏pur͏ia defeating two of ͏͏the to͏p͏ ͏fe͏atherwe͏ight f͏ighters in a ͏single͏ year͏.  The UFC is in a new era of champions who are not scared to take challenges on and Chael Sonnen is excited to witness what’s next for the promotion.

Looking at this, former UFC fighter and insider, Chael Sonnen emphasized that Alex Pereira might have done something unthinkable in the UFC this year but that achievement might have to be overshadowed by Ilia Topuria’s masterclass knockout frenzy this year, “What Ilia Topuria just did is he just ended an era. Topuria has put a bow on that era.”  To cite some statistics, Alexander Volkanovski held the featherweight championship for five years, and no one had ever knocked out Max Holloway—until he faced ‘El Matador’. Topuria ended these legendary feats within one year, marking a new era within the featherweight division.

͏Chael Sonne further added, “Jon Anik did it right to Daniel Cormier; he said, ‘What Ilia Topuria has done for this division… Two greatest of all time, and he put ’em both to sleep, dominantly.’ He said that would be akin to Alex Pereira knocking out Jon Jones and knocking out Daniel Cormier in the same year. He would have clearly established—and without question—there is a new sheriff in town. That’s what Topuria did.” 

Ahead of this match, Ilia Topuria emphasized that he would be the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway and that’s what he did at UFC 308. Interestingly, after clinching the victory against ‘Blessed’ Topuria brandished a fake ‘BMF’ belt and stated that Holloway should relinquish his title. This statement by the Featherweight champ appears to have irked Max Holloway.

Max Holloway reacts to Ilia Topuria brandishing the fake ‘BMF’ belt

Max Holloway was riding a three-fight winning streak before he faced ‘El-Matador.’ The MMA community believed that Holloway’s experience as a champion would be enough to subdue Ilia Topuria but the opposite happened as the Spanish-Georgian fighter knocked out ‘Blessed’ in the second round to retain his featherweight title. In addition to that, Topuria brandished showed off the fake ‘BMF’ and called out Max Holloway to relinquish it. Not only that, he even asserted that the promotion would find it difficult to portray Holloway as a ‘BMF.’

This statement appeared to have irked the former featherweight champion, Max Holloway, who called out Ilia Topuria, “It is what it is. Could you imagine Islam [Makhachev] walking around with two belts after knocking out [Volkanovski]? Let that sink in. That belt is in a different weight class, for a different reason. I think the fans make it happen, and if the UFC wanted to make it happen, they would’ve put it up. I don’t know why they didn’t.”

Their rivalry appears to have not even after UFC 308, so what’s next for the division? Well, Ilia Topuria has claimed that he would fight Alexander Volkanovski once again to defend his title and maybe after that, he would face the new sensation, Diego Lopes for a fight. Regardless, what’s your take on the situation? State your thoughts in the comments below.