Ilia Topuria accuses Max Holloway of stalling UFC title fight, Holloway responds

Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway are pointing fingers at each other, placing blame on one another for the delay of their expected UFC championship fight.

Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who holds the UFC featherweight title, has been linked for some time with a potential championship fight against Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) but has yet to get officially booked.

“El Matador,” in a moderated Q&A with Marca on Wednesday, accused Holloway of making excuses in delaying the booking of their fight.

“You need to ask that question to Max Holloway because I’ve been getting ready all summer, and just ready to get the date,” Topuria said when asked about the Holloway bout. “It’s him who is making all the excuses.

“First, it was family problems, then that he couldn’t make the weight, now that he doesn’t want to fight. There are many names out there that to the public they’re saying they want to fight, but I invite them to follow up on their words. This is what I do, this is my job. I’m ready whenever they call me.”

It didn’t take long for Holloway to say his piece, as he took to X a few hours after to refute Topuria’s comments.

“Guy is just making things up at this stage, I been ready,” Holloway wrote.

Topuria hopes to make his first title defense at the UFC pay-per-view event expected to go down in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26. He likes that location because it aligns better with the time zone in Spain, where fans can better watch his fight.

“I aim for that location, I aim to fight in Abu Dhabi,” Topuria said. “I hope that it happens. I hope that someone takes the step forward and accepts the challenge. I’m ready.

“I’ll even take a call to fight in Las Vegas. Yeah, I have my preferences. I would like to fight in Abu Dhabi because of the time, as everyone in Spain will get to watch the event on prime time. But really, wherever they need me, I’ll be ready.”