McGregor Labels ‘Little R—ard’ Topuria ‘A Non-Champion’

Photo by Brenton Ho/Zuffa LLC

Conor McGregor has nothing nice to say about Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria.

“The Notorious” famously rose to superstardom as a 145-pound prospect in mixed martial arts (MMA). Upon his UFC arrival in 2013, McGregor wasted no time becoming a must-watch fighter, scoring knockout after knockout en route to the world title in December 2015.

Amongst all five UFC Featherweight champions in promotional history, McGregor and Topuria are the only two to not defend the title. However, Topuria’s reign as champion began as recently as UFC 298 when he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in round two this past February 2024 (watch highlights). While not yet official, Topuria is expected to eventually defend against former champion, Max Holloway, for his first fight as champion. Should it happen, McGregor likes his old foe, Holloway’s, chances.

“F—k him. I don’t give a f—k about him either,” McGregor said on a Duelbits live stream. “He reminds me of a little r—ard Artem Lobov, Topuria does, yeah. Two little r—ards.

“Holloway, too light, too fast,” he continued. “I think Holloway picks him apart if they fight. Holloway has done it. He’s had that Featherweight title and he had it for a long time. He’s now the BMF. Topuria for me is a non-champion, in my opinion. He might have a strap but it’s a meaningless strap in my opinion. I don’t see any attraction to it. What’s he a Georgian or is he Spanish or what’s he? I don’t even know what he is.”

Before Topuria and Holloway make their eventual returns, whether against each other or not, McGregor will fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29, 2024. The Welterweight affair will be McGregor’s first fight since he broke his leg in a first round technical knockout loss (watch highlights) to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.