It is a known fact that Ilia Topuria is a big fan of Real Madrid. In fact, the Spanish-Georgian arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu with his UFC featherweight belt after defeating Alexander Volkanovski in February. There at the Spanish capital, he received a standing ovation and became a hero for everyone; however, he truly would be heartbroken after seeing recent footage of a Real Madrid legend choosing UFC 308 opponent Max Holloway over him.

In the run-up to the fight against Max Holloway as part of UFC 308, Cristiano Ronaldo appeared for an interview with PLFMMA. The Portuguese star, who is not new to combat sports due to his close friendship with Francis Ngannou, was asked to choose his pick for the bout between Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria. And despite Topuria being a Spanish fighter and a Real Madrid fan, Ronaldo chose the former instead. Something that he surely could now come to regret.

Revealing his answer, the Real Madrid legend claimed that Ilia Topuria speaks too much for his liking. He further added that the Spanish-Georgian’s victory against Volkanovski was a fluke since he just wasn’t ready for the kick that Topuria threw at him. Cristiano Ronaldo said, “[Topuria] speaks too much. I think when he [beat] Volk, Volk wasn’t [ready] because of that kick.”

The Portuguese further claimed Max Holloway is a star who never got knocked out; hence, he would be a tough fight for Ilia Topuria. But if the featherweight champion manages to defeat him, he will earn his respect. He said, “[Topuria] didn’t fight with the top guys. If he beats Max, I will respect.” Well, it surely looks like the Al-Nassr star would have to respect Topuria as he defeated ‘Blessed’ via TKO in round 3 of the main event fight.

Topuria surely proved his doubters wrong with his UFC 308 performance. The fact that he even had to prove himself to an icon from his favorite soccer club surely shows the amount of pressure he had on his mind. But do you know that even Topuria recently chose other soccer stars over Cristiano Ronaldo? Well, it occurred during a very fun game ahead of his UFC 308 title defense.

Ilia Topuria skips Ronaldo as the best player in the history of La Liga

Ahead of his bout against Max Holloway, Ilia participated in a fun game that consisted of simply choosing between one option or the other. In this case, the theme was crossed by players from Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the playful thing is that the selected player is left competing against the rest while the other is completely discarded.

In that context, the interviewer started strong and asked Topuria who he was staying with between Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal. Ilia did not hesitate and went with the young Spaniard and kept him for a few duels until the name Andrés Iniesta arrived. He was then dethroned by Zinedine Zidane. The French legend was then instantly faced with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ilia hesitated, thought, analyzed, and finally ended up opting for Zidane. The final duel crossed Zidane with Leo Messi, but the 145-pound champion did not analyze it for two seconds and clearly opted for the Argentine, calling him the best player in La Liga history. So it looks like both Ilia Topuria and Cristiano Ronaldo consider the other as the GOAT.

But what do you think? Do you agree with their picks? Let us know in the comments.