Ilia Topuria challenges Conor McGregor to a sparring match, explains why UFC fight is now “Impossible”

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has officially given up his pursuit of a booking with Conor McGregor but issued an open invitation to the Irish superstar.

Topuria will face BMF titleholder Max Holloway in the UFC 308 main event next weekend in Abu Dhabi. He’ll make his first UFC featherweight title defense after finishing Alexander Volkanovski for the belt in February.

Topuria isn’t lacking confidence ahead of his Holloway clash. While many of his fighting colleagues are picking Holloway to dethrone the champ, Topuria promises to knock Holloway out in the first round.

After winning the belt at UFC 298, Topuria called out McGregor for a super fight. McGregor’s initial rise to a UFC superstar began with a memorable run at 145lbs.

Despite the all-but-impossible odds that McGregor will return to featherweight, the two sides have traded barbs from afar in recent months. McGregor most recently questioned Topuria’s nationality while in Marbella, Spain for a Bare Knuckle FC event.

Ilia Topuria wants to spar Conor McGregor for next UFC fight camp

During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Topuria challenged McGregor and explained why his dream fight is now off the table.

“He’s a fake fighter. He fakes all the time that he’s going to fight,” Topuria said of McGregor. “Fighters fight every day…for me, he’s retired, I don’t even want to talk about a guy that’s retired. I feel bad…that’s never going to happen, never. How? I’m the world champion and he’s not even in the rankings. But, we can do something if he wants. For my next training camp for my next fight, I invite him with Dan Hooker and we can do two and a half minute [sessions]…I’ll change them every round, we can do that…

“Official fight? That’s impossible. And right now at this point, I have much bigger fights than Conor McGregor. Conor McChicken.”

As of this writing, McGregor hasn’t responded to Topuria’s latest remarks, although it could be only a matter of time until he answers.

Before capturing the UFC featherweight title, Topuria’s unbeaten run included wins over Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell, and Jai Herbert. His quick ascent came with a well-rounded skill set that has given his opponents fits inside the Octagon.

During his UFC featherweight days, McGregor defeated the likes of Holloway, José Aldo, and Chad Mendes. He captured the unified UFC featherweight championship by knocking out Alod in just 13 seconds at UFC 194.

McGregor then moved up full-time to lightweight to challenge for the UFC lightweight title. He finished Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to become the UFC’s first two-division simultaneous world champion.

Topuria wants to surpass McGregor’s featherweight legacy and set himself apart in the division’s lore. He’s not far away from adding himself to the featherweight GOAT conversation.