It seems like Ilia Topuria is taking cues from his opponents’ iconic moments and wishes to replicate them. The featherweight king had made many predictions for his title defense at UFC 308 against Max Holloway. However, the latter was least bothered about them all. The most current one was that he planned to strut to the center of the cage at the start of the fight and point to the ground as an invitation for Holloway to engage in a striking fest, something the Hawaaian is known for. 

In a previous encounter with Ricardo Lamas, Holloway executed this gesture in the final moments of the bout, which he later repeated at UFC 300 before knocking Justin Gaethje out cold. Holloway has since become a sort of “MMA gesture police,” calling out other fighters who attempt to mimic his signature move without fully understanding its significance. In one 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 continued, “ 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.”

The Spanish-Georgian claimed that if Holloway met him in the middle of the octagon then he would deliver the first knockout blow. However, ‘Blessed’ does not consider it to be a scenario at all. He further explained the reason stating, “The belt is called the ‘Blessed Man Forever’ or what you guys want to call ‘the baddest motherfu****’! If the belt was the ‘DMF,’ the dumbest mother******, then maybe I would get sucked into it.”

However, Topuria is extremely confident in his ability to shatter the most durable chin in all of UFC and his self-belief remains unwavering. While his initial plan was to secure a knockout within the first 10 seconds, Topuria has a contingency plan in place should that fail.

Ilia Topuria explains his winning strategy for UFC 308

‘El Matador’ explained his plan B and said that he would take and test Holloway on the ground. Holloway is primarily a striker, and his ground game is considered less formidable than his striking skills. Topuria plans to exploit this weakness by exercising his grappling and mauling the Hawaain native with his unrelenting pressure.

While both fighters are skilled strikers, Topuria believes his wrestling surpasses that of his opponents. Despite Topuria’s attempts to provoke Holloway, the reigning UFC featherweight champion has maintained a respectful demeanor, responding to the trash talk with the simple phrase, “We’ll find out October 26.”

While Topuria has been oozing confidence left, right, and center. “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!” Topuria told MMA journalist Kevin Iole in a recent interview.

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.