"Ilia's not a Conor" - UFC vet gets brutally honest about potential Terence Crawford vs. Ilia Topuria boxing match

A UFC veteran doesn't see Ilia Topuria securing a high-profile boxing match against undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford. 'El Matador' has been calling out 'Bud' for some time now.

After the 37-year-old American defeated Canelo Alvarez to become the first male boxer to attain three-weight undisputed champion status, Topuria took aim at Crawford for using his walkout song for the fight.

Many believe the UFC's pound-for-pound king is trying to emulate Conor McGregor's playbook. 'The Notorious' famously earned over $100 million for a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in 2017.

UFC welterweight contender Michael Chiesa, however, doesn't want to see Topuria crossing over to boxing.

Speaking to Mike Bohn on The Bohnfire, 'Maverick' warned that mixed martial arts could lose 'El Matador' to boxing the same way it lost McGregor if the fight ended up happening:

"Absolutely not [speaking about potential Crawford vs. Topuria]. We lost Conor McGregor after the Floyd Mayweather fight. That's not the goal with Zuffa Boxing. Essentially, that would be if we pulled Topuria up into that space, that would mean that that's part of their MO. Look, anything could happen."

Furthermore, Chiesa doesn't see the fight materializing to begin with:

"Floyd is different from Crawford in the sense that I'm not saying Crawford doesn't know how to promote a fight, but Floyd was a master at that... 'Bud' sells his brand because he can downright fight. He's just damn good, and Floyd was as well. And Ilia's not a Conor. That was such a one-of-one type of thing. That was peak Conor McGregor trash talk. That was the ultimate. That was so much fun, and I'm not saying Topuria is not fun, he just doesn't have that sharp tongue like Conor had."

Check out Michael Chiesa's comments on potential Terence Crawford vs. Ilia Topuria below (23:34):

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Terence Crawford deems Ilia Topuria "fake"

Terence Crawford is paying no mind to Ilia Topuria's constant callouts and seems to view 'El Matador's' antics as nothing but fake. After the UFC lightweight champion pressed 'Bud' online, accusing the boxer of stealing his walkout song, he challenged both Crawford and Canelo Alvarez to a fight.

Crawford, however, doesn't see the UFC star as a threat, especially since he feels 'El Matador's' energy was noticeably different the only time they met in person. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, he said:

"I'm not worried about that guy at all... I ain't even know who he was. When he saw me at the UFC, he came up to shake my hand and say what's up to me. I ain't even know who he was, but then I see him online talking about how he'll knock me out in the first round and this and that. And now this. Well, if you wanted to fight me, you had the opportunity to tell me, like, 'Hey, man, I want to fight you. What's up?' That's fake."