"As soon as he touches the ground, he will be submitted" - Ilia Topuria fires ominous warning to Max Holloway over his less-seen ground game

Ilia Topuria will look to defend his featherweight title for the first time when he faces Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308 next weekend. While he has previously claimed that he will point to the ground in the middle of the octagon in the first 10 seconds of the fight, he recently warned his upcoming opponent of the threat of his ground game.

Speaking to Kevin Iole, 'El Matador' claimed that he can take down 'Blessed' and submit him anytime he wants, stating:

"Imagine if in the fight, he starts to run around inside the octagon and he doesn't stop to exchange punches with me and really fight, I can take the decision to take him down whenever I want. As soon as I take that decision, I will submit him. As soon as he touches the ground, he will be submitted... I don't want to take all the credit from Max Holloway because he's demonstrated that he's a very good fighter with a lot of experience in his bag."

Topuria continued:

"At the same time, he's never faced someone like me. Never, ever. The moment when I'm going to take him down, 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. Trust me, I'm very, very good on the ground. I think I'm better on the ground than in the striking. The thing is that people never saw my ground game because I didn't need it in my UFC career."

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments on submitting Max Holloway below:

Topuria has just one submission in seven career UFC fights, compared to four knockouts and two victories via decision. He submitted the first seven opponents in his career, however, picking up just one knockout and no decision victories before joining the UFC.

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Ilia Topuria shares lofty expectations of chasing belts in two additional divisions

Ilia Topuria has recently exchanged words with Belal Muhammad over his plans to face Islam Makhachev in pursuit of double-champ status. 'El Matador' recently aimed the welterweight champion while expressing that he will look to chase titles in two additional divisions. Speaking to Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports, he claimed:

"Maybe after this one, it could be to move up to the lightweight division and if we still have that fake champion in the welterweight division, Belal, that's an easy one for me, and what else? It's Max Holloway, the lightweight title, and the welterweight title. That would be great... He wants to go to decision with me, also."

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments on chasing two additional titles below:

While Topuria's goals are certainly lofty, it is difficult to envision the UFC giving him the opportunity to chase a second - let alone, a third - belt with just one title defense in his own weight class. It is expected that the winner of next weekend's featherweight title clash will face Alexander Volkanovski.