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

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.”

Topuria is set to take on an opponent both he and Holloway have faced before – Justin Gaethje. Gaethje has earned another shot at the lightweight title after being knocked out by Holloway a couple of years ago.

This time, after winning the interim belt in January, Gaethje will face Topuria at The White House on June 14.