Ex-champ's claim about neutralizing Ilia Topuria's offense backfires, the former reacts to fan hate

Ilia Topuria's triumphant featherweight title defense at UFC 308 has drawn the attention of former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. 'Funk Master' made the bold claim that his skill set is ideal to nullify Topuria's.

With back-to-back knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, 'El Matador' has enthroned himself as the undisputed featherweight king. However, Sterling is, by no means, intimidated. He believes that he is uniquely equipped to beat the featherweight titleholder.

Unfortunately, his claims did not receive the warm reception he had hoped for. Instead, it seems he has been buried by fan vitriol, prompting him to post a humorous comment on an Instagram post sharing his assertion that he could beat Topuria.

"Maybe I should've said I can't wait to go strike with him instead"

A screenshot of Aljamain Sterling's comment about Ilia Topuria

Regardless of the controversy Sterling has drawn with his claim, he is an accomplished fighter and proved himself capable of winning at featherweight. At UFC 300, he authored a strong performance against striker extraordinaire Calvin Kattar.

In fact, even UFC CEO Dana White claimed that 'The Boston Finisher' was made to look slow by Sterling, who was coming from a division below. For now, though, Sterling must do more to earn a crack at featherweight gold. He is set to face unbeaten Russian 145-pounder Movsar Evloev.

The two have chirped back and forth for quite some time now and will finally settle their differences at UFC 310, where they will likely compete for a shot at featherweight gold.

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Ilia Topuria is unlikely to face Aljamain Sterling next

Ilia Topuria is currently linked to a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski, who feels he is owed an immediate crack at the featherweight belt he just lost. However, 'The Great' is intent on fighting at UFC 312, which will be held in Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, that is too quick a turnaround for Topuria, who just fought.

Check out the face-off between Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski (2:40):

This means that Volkanovski may have to either pass on fighting on home soil or take an interim featherweight title fight with Diego Lopes. Meanwhile, 'Funk Master' will almost certainly not get a title shot before Volkanovski does.