Why Ilia Topuria says Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway is impossible to call

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ilia Topuria isn’t sure who he’d lean towards in the potential International Fight Week main event.

The Octagon is set to return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 329 on July 11, with a packed lineup expected for this year’s edition of International Fight Week.

Recent reports have pointed toward Conor McGregor headlining his first card since UFC 264 back in 2021, with Max Holloway currently seen as the likely opponent.

If that bout gets confirmed, one of ‘Blessed’s’ former opponents might find it tough to pick a winner between them.

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Ilia Topuria says picking a winner in Conor McGregor’s fights hasn’t been easy since the Nate Diaz loss

Topuria secured his lone featherweight title defence against Holloway in 2024 before both fighters moved up to lightweight, where ‘El Matador’ currently holds the belt.

Since then, Holloway has struggled. He recently lost the BMF title after a one-sided defeat to Charles Oliveira at UFC 326.

That result caught Topuria off guard and left him hesitant to confidently predict a win for Holloway if he faces McGregor again this year.

“You never know,” Topuria said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I thought that Max was going to beat Charles and he lost by complete domination. So I don’t know.”

He also pointed out that there’s another surprising loss on McGregor’s record that makes him hard to predict.

“(And) with Conor, you never know,” Topuria added. “Sometimes he goes in, he makes it look easy. Sometimes he lost to Nate Diaz. When you lose to Nate Diaz, it’s very difficult to make predictions about someone like him.”