SUMMARY
- Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to win the featherweight championship.
- After the win, the new featherweight king called out Conor McGregor.
Brand new UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria (15-0) is already planting the seeds for a mega-fight in the coming days. Topuria just got a hold of the belt after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in a vicious manner in the UFC 298 main event. While Volkanovski seemingly wants a rematch, the Spanish fighter is eyeing a Conor McGregor fight.
After dusting one of the featherweight GOATs, Topuria took the mic and aimed for the moon. During his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, the 26-year-old called out McGregor. As fans know, Topuria’s whole gimmick is inspired by the first-ever UFC double-champ. Hence, getting the McGregor fight and possibly beating him would launch Ilia into megastardom.
Speaking to Joe Rogan, Topuria added, “Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I will be waiting for you in Spain.” (h/t via Ariel Helwani.)
It looks like his wishes have come true as Conor McGregor himself has responded to the new 145lbs title holder. The UFC fans know that “The Notorious One” is very active on social media during big UFC fight cards. Although he has not fought since 2021, fighters still call out McGregor as he is still the biggest star in the sport of MMA.
Responding to Topuria’s call out, Conor wrote, “I have huge b*lls, I’ve 4 kids.” While it doesn’t look like McGregor is in any mood to step inside the Octagon anything soon, it will certainly give Topuria more courage to make even more callouts to the Irishman in the future.
Dana White confirms Ilia Topuria will not fight Conor McGregor
In the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White was asked about Ilia Topuria’s callout of Conor McGregor (22-6) to fight in the rumored upcoming UFC PPV in Spain. As soon as he heard it, White laughed it off! He confirmed that Topuria will indeed face the contenders in the featherweight division instead of pursuing superfights. The 54-year-old was also asked about why fans haven’t seen McGregor fight yet.
To that, White simply added that McGregor has too much “money” to bother about fighting at the moment. Not only that, White also added that McGregor will be doing media for the upcoming “Road House” remake with Jake Gyllenhaal. While there are chances of him fighting in 2024, White refused to make any commitments to the fans.