Predicting a difficult victory or one’s preparation before a fight might be seen as confidence. However, predicting a KO finish in a fight might be similar to what the Greeks called hubris. Yet, Ilia Topuria does not see it like that. The current featherweight king has already given many confident verdicts before his title defense against Max Holloway. However, will this conviction make him win as he did against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298? Is there something more to his unending burst of confidence?

Despite Max Holloway’s calm demeanor, ‘El Matador’ has repeatedly expressed his belief in defeating him. However, Volkanovski, Holloway’s previous arch-nemesis, has weighed in on Topuria’s victory claims.

Alexander Volkanovski takes away the mask from Ilia Topuria’s confidence

In a conversation with Kevin Iole, Alexander Volkanovski expressed his belief that Max Holloway would slay ‘El Matador’ and regain the title. Having fought both Holloway and Topuria in the past, Volkanovski possesses valuable insights into their fighting styles and in-cage strategies. He also highlighted a key aspect of Topuria’s personality that could potentially influence his performance.

The former champion did not question ‘El Matador’s’ boost of ego but he did reveal that this was a mask for a deeper emotion. He said, “Like he has the persona maybe because he likes to play on that because like even before our fight, he already had ‘Champion’ stuff like that alright. He would become confident but he likes to show that as well. And you have seen even after his fight after our fight you know he was quite happy and even like, ‘look what I just did.’ you know, big moment for him.”

To most fans, Topuria’s confidence might seem like arrogance, but he had cleared his stance before fighting Volkanovski. The Spanish Georgian spoke to Yahoo Sports and cleared the fact that it was not overconfidence and he knew his limitations very well. He said, “My confidence comes from hard work. I know that I can lose. That’s why I work hard. That’s why I put so much dedication in because I know that I’m a normal human being, just bones, and meat.”

This is what even his former opponent echoed while talking to Kevin Iole. Volk said, “So you can see that you know obviously, he takes his opponent seriously, he is going to say these things but I guarantee that he might sound confident, But he knows he’s in for a tough fight against Max. And he would be prepared that’s for sure.”

So evidently, this might not be overconfidence, but just an acknowledgment of what he is capable of achieving. However, this did not stop his opponent Max Holloway from correcting a teeny tiny mistake that he had made while calling him out.

‘Blessed’ corrected Ilia Topuria and his reference to calling him in the middle of the mat

Max Holloway never participates in any crude trash-talking, and he maintained it this time as well. However, this did not stop him from correcting Ilia Topuria on one technicality related to a ‘tactic’ that the Hawaiian native often indulges inside the octagon.

In a previous encounter with Ricardo Lamas, Holloway had executed a specific gesture in the ending moments of the bout, which he later repeated at UFC 300 before knocking Justin Gaethje out cold. He had pointed at the middle of the mat and asked his opponent to meet him there to exchange hurt ‘bombs’.

Holloway has since become a sort of “gatekeeper” calling out other fighters who try to imitate his classic gesture without fully understanding its connotation. In one such instance, Holloway corrected “El Matador” for incorrectly performing the gesture, emphasizing the underlying meaning behind it.

“It’s mind-boggling to me, and even with the moment, a point-down moment. The point down moment — I don’t think he gets the gist of it.” Holloway told MMA Fighting. He explained, “ At the end of the day the point down, it’s something that you do towards the end of the fight. If something is going good, if the fight is entertaining or you’re winning, you give the other guy a shot. The moment is the moment for a reason.”

So ‘Blessed’ did not have a problem with his opponent, imitating him, but wanted the latter to do it properly. Do you think ‘El Matador’s’ confidence is going to help him? Tell us in the comments below.