MMA News Roundup: Ilia Topuria’s Conditions for Max Holloway Fight, Conor McGregor Gives Drug Test for UFC 303, Chandler Challenges Khabib’s PPV Numbers

With another 24 hours in the past, the MMA world has been buzzing with some fresh new developments. Hence, we are here with a new edition of the daily roundup to help you stay updated with the most noteworthy moments in our favorite sport. We will start with featherweight champion Ilia Topuria giving his take on a potential fight against Max Holloway. Then we will shift our focus to an update regarding Conor McGregor‘s training. Finally, we will sum up this news compilation with Michael Chandler aiming to overtake Khabib Nurmagomedov in his fight against ‘The Notorious’.

Max Holloway did not impress Ilia Topuria with his UFC 300 performance

Max Holloway was involved in one of the most unbelievable moments in UFC history last weekend. He put on one of his greatest performances ever and knocked out Justin Gaethje at the final second of the final round to claim the BMF title. Now, featherweight champion Ilia Topuria seems to be interested in fighting Holloway. He claimed to have asked for the fight before he fought Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. However, Topuria has a condition for the fight against ‘Blessed’, and that is for the Hawaiian native to put his BMF title on the line to raise the stakes.

“Without the BMF belt, I don’t want him at all,” Ilia Topuria stated during the recent edition of ‘The MMA Hour‘. The featherweight champion is willing to fight Max Holloway only because of the BMF title. But if he refuses to put that title on the line, ‘EL Matador’ won’t hesitate to give Alexander Volkanovski a rematch instead. “If not, I’m going to fight with Volkanovski, who deserves the rematch more than him,” ‘El Matador’ added. It remains to be seen how Dana White navigates this situation in the months to come.

Conor McGregor is “drug tested” ahead of his comeback

After wrapping up his promotional work for the ‘Road House’ movie, Conor McGregor is back to grinding in the gym. The former double champion shared a glimpse from his recent training session while claiming that he’s done with his drug testing duties for UFC 303 and is now fixated on making an epic return against Michael Chandler, who has been preparing for this fight for almost two years.

“Ten rounds in the 18oz. Drug tested. Hair cut,” wrote Conor McGregor. Dana White mentioned that the fight will be five rounds, something that UFC Hall of Fame inductee Chael Sonnen believes may not be the right kind of return for the former double champion. Will McGregor have a lackluster return like many of the other fighters who’ve come back from long hiatuses? We will get those answers on June 29.

Michael Chandler is aiming to surpass Khabib Nurmagomedov in terms of numbers

UFC 229 made headlines when it went down. The fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov was full of action and controversies, but it also earned its name in the UFC’s history books. That fight turned out to be the biggest fight in terms of numbers with over 2.4 million PPV buys. As such, it became the highest-grossing fight that the UFC has ever put up. However, Michael Chandler feels like he does better than ‘The Eagle’ and that’s what he aims to do against McGregor on International Fight Week.

“We wanna break that Khabib number, right? The 2.4 [million PPV buys],” Michael Chandler told Ariel Helwani on ‘The MMA Hour’. “This one [is] Conor’s comeback [and] one of the most violent guys in the sport… I am ready to go anywhere.”Despite McGregor’s absence of nearly three years, Chandler is not far behind. He too has been patiently waiting on the sidelines since 2022 for a showdown with the Irishman. As such, the anticipation among fans and MMA personalities is building as we eagerly await the moment when the fight night finally rolls around.