Daniel Cormier praises Ilia Topuria’s “Smart” approach to viral Max Holloway face-to-face

Daniel Cormier: Ilia Topuria successfully got under Max Holloway’s skin

During a recent edition of Good Guy/Bad Guy with Chael Sonnen, Cormier explained how Topuria won the exchange with Holloway.

“Here’s why this worked. You got to see Max Holloway a little bit mad,” Cormier said of Topuria. “It felt like Ilia Topuria has now gotten to the point where Max doesn’t like him…he respected Max in his career path and the things that he did. I don’t know that now, he respects him in that way, and I think it’s very smart of Topuria not to hold that respect and have that ‘like’ for Max Holloway…

“Because the last guy that Max Holloway fought, Justin Gaethje, who liked Max. He had no bad feelings towards Max. He said he couldn’t get himself ready, because Max is a great guy. Everybody loves Max. Max Holloway put him out with one of the most devastating knockouts we’ve seen in a really long time. Ilia Topuria’s not having any of that. He’s saying ‘I’m going to knock you out!’…this dude Ilia is so confident, but why wouldn’t he be? He’s the world champion…if you can fight the way that this man fights, then you can carry yourself in that way.”

Topuria will look to hand Holloway his first career knockout loss. Holloway earned the UFC featherweight title shot after wins over Arnold Allen, The Korean Zombie, and Justin Gaethje.