Ilia Topuria responds to "frustrated" Alexander Volkanovski's accusations of inactivity: "What fight am I rejecting?"

Ilia Topuria has responded to former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski's recent criticisms. The Australian MMA great previously suggested that Topuria has been out of action because he has been busy pursuing a fight against combat sports megastar Conor McGregor. Volkanovski further insinuated that he is evading potential title defenses against the top featherweights.

Topuria ended Volkanovski's 1,526-day UFC featherweight title reign via second-round KO and became the new UFC featherweight champion at UFC 298 (Feb. 2024). Speculation abounded that an immediate rematch could materialize.

Nevertheless, Volkanovski signaled that he'll refrain from rushing back into competition, particularly since he'd suffered consecutive knockout defeats in his last two fights. He was first stopped via first-round KO by UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev last October, which was followed by the UFC 298 KO defeat against Topuria.

In a recent appearance on Main Event, Alexander Volkanovski condemned Ilia Topuria for supposedly avoiding top-tier featherweight title challengers. Speaking to Marca, the featherweight kingpin subsequently hit back at 'The Great.' Topuria alluded to the fact that Volkanovski has suffered back-to-back knockout defeats in his past two octagon appearances. The 27-year-old stated:

"[Volkanovski] knows that he is a former world champion. He is frustrated. He is dedicating himself to the media, and he has nothing else. They don't pay attention to him for anything other than talking about me. Because if he talks about himself, they won't pay attention...What fight am I rejecting? Where? I even offered to have a rematch. But then it's like he comes from two very tough KOs in one year, and he's a poor, poor man, right? He has to give his head a rest. He doesn't have much room to maneuver."

Moreover, he jibed at Volkanovski by recalling that he claimed he'd beat him but ended up losing in their title fight. He added:

"It surprises me, honestly. A very intelligent guy, he stands out with his intelligence."

Watch Ilia Topuria's assessment below:

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Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway exchange blame for delay in announcement of expected fight

Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway defeated BMF champion and former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje via fifth-round KO at UFC 300 (April 2024). While Holloway's BMF title win came at lightweight, the consensus is that he'll return to featherweight and fight Topuria for the latter's UFC featherweight title sometime this year.

Furthermore, there have been calls for the potential Topuria-Holloway matchup to also have the BMF title at stake.

There's been widespread speculation as to why Ilia Topuria's next fight hasn't been officially announced yet. The undefeated Georgian-Spanish fighter implied that the delay in the fight getting booked and announced was due to Max Holloway. Regardless, Holloway refuted Topuria's allegation, with both fighters seemingly trading blame for the delay.

Check out the back-and-forth between Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria below: