A few days ago, in the middle of a ‘stream’ offered by one of his sponsors, Conor McGregor (22-6-0) began to insult half the UFC roster. Among those in the line of fire was Ilia Topuria (15-0-0), featherweight champion.
Now, the Spanish-Georgian has responded to ‘The Notorious’ in a podcast recently published by ‘Nude Project’ and, as expected, the tone is far from the same.
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“What’s your perception of McGregor now? It’s in the past. It’s past. What does he do today? The things he did before, right? But he hasn’t done anything for a long time. I mean, in the sport, today, from a sporting point of view, he is nobody. I don’t even think he’s ranked”, Topuria said about the Irishman, who returns to the octagon on June 29 to fight at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler.
He adds: “He’s an icon and, the truth is, it gave him a huge following as a fan of mixed martial arts and a person who practices it. I thank him for everything he’s done, I really do, for the boost he’s given it. In good or bad he has brought awareness to the sport. Now he is an influencer who sells drinks in his bar, and he is happy and content. And really, if he does well…God bless him.”
Comparisons with McGregor
If there’s one thing Topuria shies away from, however, it’s comparisons to McGregor. He hasn’t spoken to him, he admits, and he doesn’t think he had much to talk to him about, either. That doesn’t detract, of course, from the fact that he’s a media star, and Topuria knows it.
“He’s a phenomenon. Conor is crazy, he’s really crazy. I watch him sometimes and I say, ‘My God, but he is so crazy.’ He’s so crazy, he’s a character. I laugh a lot when I see him,” he says.
But at the same time, he looked at him as a person: “He is a phenomenon on a sporting level for me, but on a personal level I don’t see myself aligned with him at all.
“For me he has things that I don’t like. Like in the way he approaches a conversation, for example, with his rivals. Yes, he sells a lot, he does the whole show. But I don’t know… I couldn’t go to sleep doing all that, you know? I wouldn’t feel authentic. At the end of the day I have to base it on who I really am.”
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