Ilia Topuria has no doubt that he will defeat Max Holloway in their UFC 308 clash on October 26. The reigning UFC featherweight champion is, of course, confident to the point of being cocky and possesses unshakable self-belief that has served him exceptionally well in his career so far. And in the run-up to the Holloway fight, Topuria has not just been talking about beating ‘Blessed’, but exactly how he will finish the former champion.

‘El Matador’ had earlier declared that he would try to knock out Holloway in the first ten seconds of their clash. But if that fails, the Spanish national has another plan. And that is to maul Holloway on the ground, which some may see as him flipping on what he had claimed before.

“I don’t want to take all the credit from Max Holloway because he demonstrates that he’s a very good fighter with a lot of experience in his back. But at the same time, it’s like he never faced someone like me, never ever. So he’s gonna realize that during the fight that the pressure I’m going to bring and he’s going to feel in the fight it’s completely different [than] that he felt with any other opponent he had, right? So I don’t know the moment when I’m going to take him down,” Topuria told MMA journalist Kevin Iole in a recent interview.

Holloway, of course, is a pure striker and doesn’t have much of a ground game. And Topuria, if he cannot knockout ‘Blessed’ early, plans on taking him down and mauling him on the canvas. Of course, many will point out that ‘El Matador’, like Holloway, is best known for his striking. And for those doubters, Topuria has claimed that his ground game is in fact, even better than his lethal striking.

“If that happens, if I don’t knock him out before, I don’t think he’s going to be able to stop my submissions because trust me I’m very very good in the ground. I think I’m better in the ground than in the striking. The thing is that the people never saw my ground game because I didn’t need it in my UFC career before,” he added. But what has Holloway’s reaction been to all of this?

Max Holloway stoic as ever in the face of Ilia Topuria’s verbal assault

Max Holloway is one of the most respectful guys you’ll ever come across. And that has been the case even in the face of Topuria’s big claims and insulting trash-talk aimed at him. Rather than engage with Topuria at his level, ‘Blessed’, as usual, has chosen to take the high road.

The prime example of this was the recent virtual face-off Holloway and Topuria engaged in a week ago. While Topuria was as bombastic and antagonistic as usual, Holloway refused to take the bait and insult ‘El Matador’ in any way. Perhaps a bit too much to be honest.

After all, the BMF champion’s go-to response to Topuria challenging him and criticizing him was the oft-repeated phrase “We’ll find out October 26.” And some, including Topuria, see this as a clear indication Holloway isn’t confident he can beat Topuria. While Holloway’s responses could be read that way, as we have mentioned, the Hawaiian native has always been this way.

And if Topuria is putting any stock at all into Holloway lacking confidence in himself, he maybe in for a rude shock at UFC 308. What are your thoughts on Topuria’s claim regarding his grappling skills? How do you see this featherweight title clash going down? Drop your predictions in the comment section below.