Ilia Topuria challenges Max Holloway to throw down in the middle of the Octagon in the first 10 seconds at UFC 308

Ilia Topuria wants Max Holloway to meet in the middle and throw down in the first 10 seconds of their fight as he did in the last 10 seconds against Justin Gaethje.

Topuria is set to defend his featherweight title in the main event of UFC 308 on October 26 against Holloway in a highly-anticipated bout. Topuria enters the bout as a -260 favorite while the Hawaiian is a +196 underdog on FanDuel.

Even though Ilia Topuria is the betting favorite, he wants to throw down with Max Holloway and challenges the Hawaiian to do so.

Topuria challenges Holloway to square up in the middle of the Octagon in the first 10 seconds 😳 #UFC308 pic.twitter.com/r8VtEvKWLK

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 9, 2024

“I challenge you to have that exchange but in the first 10 seconds of the fight and you will see what is going to happen. When you face a fighter like me inside the Octagon who brings that technique and power, you can’t do that. I’m going to take your head off in the first 10 seconds,” Topuria said to ESPN.

Holloway was quick to respond saying Topuria only wants to do that in the first 10 seconds because he gets tired.

Ilia Topuria claims Max Holloway’s UFC 300 win was boring

Despite being the No. 1 contender at featherweight, Max Holloway went up to lightweight to face Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Holloway was the underdog, but he scored a thrilling fifth-round knockout win, but Ilia Topuria says he wasn’t impressed with the performance.

“The only thing exciting about that fight was the last 10 seconds, to be honest. I didn’t see any technique in that fight. I didn’t see any strategy, I didn’t see anything, I just saw a bar fight, to be honest. It was very spectacular for the fans. But, for me as a professional, it was not something very impressive,” Topuria said.

Ilia Topuria believes if Max Holloway fights the same way he did against Justin Gaethje, the champ is confident the bout will end early. But, both men enter the UFC 308 bout with plenty of confidence that they will leave Abu Dhabi as the champ.