Max Holloway labels Ilia Topuria a “copycat” Conor McGregor while reflecting on the champion’s pre-fight taunts

UFC 308 will mark Ilia Topuria's first defense of his UFC featherweight title, as he is all set to defend the 145-pound throne against Max Holloway in the main event. 'El Matador' is brimming with confidence ahead of the bout, and has taunted the title challenger on numerous occasions.

Topuria even claimed that he will point down to the canvas in the first 10 seconds of their fight, and tried to goad Holloway into a wild exchange in the opening round.

The Spaniard's comment is in reference to the Hawaiian's iconic move. At UFC 300, Holloway pointed to the middle of the octagon in the last 10 seconds of his fight against Justin Gaethje. The two men got into a wild brawl, and Holloway ended up knocking Gaethje out to become the BMF champion. He has pulled similar stunts in the past as well.

With UFC 308 fast approaching, 'Blessed' recently appeared infront of the media, and was asked about Topuria's pre-fight taunts. Holloway dismissed him as nothing more than a imitator. He also added that Topuria was a "copycat" of Conor McGregor.

The 32-year old said this:

"You gotta earn that right [to point down to the canvas], I don't think [Topuria] deserves that right. You know the guy that he's copycatting. This guy is a copycat, down to his tattoos, his aura, the way he's approaching fights. The guy is a copycat, and your best friend's [Conor McGregor] with the guy he's following."

Catch Max Holloway's comments on Ilia Topuria below (1:20):

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Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor share heated words online

With Ilia Topuria's rise to UFC stardom, he has found himself on Conor McGregor's radar.

The Irishman has made numerous jibes the way of the Spaniard, but ahead of Topuria's UFC 308 title clash with Max Holloway, 'The Notorious' implied that Holloway became the legendary fighter he is today after losing to McGregor.

Holloway faced the Dublin native in 2013, suffering a decision defeat, afterwhich he did not lose a fight at 145 pounds until losing the title to Alexander Volkanovski in 2019.

In a since-deleted post, McGregor wrote:

"1000% he became way better after losing to me. He actually became an all-time great after losing to me. This is a stellar fight folks... He will be very hard to catch for the little man."

See McGregor's post below:

Screenshot of McGregor's post aimed at Topuria

'El Matador' responded with this:

"He must have realized that if he wanted to make a living from this, he couldn't be so bad as to lose to someone like you. Nowadays, he beats you easily... Nate beat you two times, Khabib humiliated you, and Floyd gave you a master class in boxing at 50 years old. Take a seat, kid."

See Ilia Topuria's post below: