Ilia Topuria: Max Holloway gets brutally honest about dealing with Ilia Topuria KO ahead of UFC 318: "I was sad"

Max Holloway recently reflected on his brutal knockout loss against Ilia Topuria and opened up about processing the outcome. Holloway and Topuria went up against each other at UFC 308 last October in a featherweight title fight.

While many expected Holloway's striking skills to thoroughly test Topuria, the Georgian-Spanish fighter managed to secure a spectacular third-round knockout. This marked the Hawaiian native's first career knockout loss. Holloway is now set to face Dustin Poirier in a BMF title fight at UFC 318 this weekend.

In an interview with Daniel Cormier ahead of his next octagon challenge, Holloway reflected on his first KO loss against Topuria and answered whether it was hard to move on from it:

"I felt great in there with him. I felt like we were competing... It is what it is, fair play to him, but sh*t happens... [Was the moving-on process hard?] Not at all, bro. I was sad in there, you saw me, I was sad or whatever. It's spilled milk, bro. What am I going to do? Keep crying about it? Keep holding it?... I'm the same man."

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Catch Max Holloway's comments below (1:58):

Max Holloway dismisses Ilia Topuria's recent UFC win streak

Max Holloway doesn't believe that Ilia Topuria's last three knockout wins hold as much weight as fans think. In his last three fights, 'El Matador' has knocked out Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway, and Charles Oliveira.

While many consider Topuria's recent streak as one of the most impressive in UFC history, Holloway believes it's simply a case of advantageous timing. In an interview with CBS Sports, he explained:

"It's just tough, right? Yeah, he beat the names, and you can't deny that. But then, when you look, it just sucks with everything that's going on when you look at that Volk fight, Volk coming off what he did [knockout loss to Islam Makhachev]. That's kind of crazy. But people just look at the name. They're not looking at the record."

He continued:

"They're just like, 'Oh, Alex was the champ,' and then me, and then Charles. Charles was on a one-fight win streak. At the end of the day, they're just moments and they're just names. It is one of the greatest names, for sure, that he beat in history. But the man is doing what he's supposed to do. The UFC is lining people up for him, and he's just knocking them down. So, fair play to him." [H/t: MMA Junkie]

Watch the full interview below:

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Edited by Nishant Zende.