Ilya Topria respects Khabib but criticizes his cousin and teammates 😳
“One of the things I admire about Habib is that he is a very polite person…When I told him about Islam, all my cousins came out.
They’ve never knocked anyone out, got caught using steroids, and they’re super… pic.twitter.com/Bxmm77AEG0
— Championship Round (@ChampRDS)
October 21, 2024
Ilya Topria doesn’t have the same respect for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammate as ‘The Eagle’ does.
Topria is scheduled to defend his featherweight title against Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308 this Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. If he successfully defends his strap, ‘El Matador’ has expressed interest in challenging lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, leading to a war of words with the Dagestan international.
Umar Nurmagomedov, Usman Nurmagomedov, Tagir Ulambekov, and Abubakar Nurmagomedov all joined forces to hurl accusations against Topria online. Initially, the conflict began with Topria claiming that he could defeat Makhachev in a street fight. But the Georgian-Spanish player believes it would be foolish for Makhachev’s teammates to try to intimidate him with threats of street fighting.
Topria also criticized the lack of finishes on some Dagestani fighters’ records and Bellator lightweight champion Usman’s recent failed drug test. Topria expressed respect for former UFC lightweight champion and Hall of Famer Khabib, but he doesn’t feel the same way about Khabib’s teammates. However, Topria admitted that Makhachev is the best of the current group.
UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway takes place Saturday at 2pm ET on ESPN+. Order now!
“One of the things I respect about Khabib is that he’s a really, really polite guy. He doesn’t say anything about anyone. People talk a lot, but he doesn’t say anything about anyone. I don’t say anything,” Topria recently told KOI Menero MMA. “When I talked about Islam, all my cousins came out. They’ve never knocked anyone out, they’ve been caught using steroids, they’re super cheaters, and all of a sudden they jump off. That’s what happened to me. The only thing that will tell you is that they have damage to their nervous system from taking so many steroids, because that’s the first thing that gets damaged. threaten It’s like a man. I dedicate my life to the fight. Let’s get a little more creative. I don’t know what to say. The best of them is Islam. ”
Topuria won the title with a knockout win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February, improving his perfect record to 15-0. Meanwhile, Holloway defeated Justin Gaethje in the lightweight division at UFC 300 in April to win the BMF title. And Makhachev is recovering from a hand injury sustained in June’s third successful lightweight title defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.
