Max Holloway Wants the Rematch Even If Ilia Topuria Jumps up to Welterweight
Max Holloway has some unfinished business with UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, and ‘Blessed’ wants to run it back even if Topuria chooses to move up to welterweight.
Holloway is scheduled to defend his BMF strap in a rematch with Charles Oliveira next year at UFC 326. Last night, during the 2026 Seasonal Press Conference, the promotion surprised fans by announcing this bout.
Max Holloway says he will chase rematch with Ilia Topuria all the way to 170-pounds
After the press conference, Max Holloway told The Mac Life in an interview that he and ‘El Matador’ have unfinished business, and when the latter comes back, if he wants to fight him, even if that means moving up to 170 pounds. He said:
“I’ve got unfinished business, so maybe we can go to 170 when he gets that [family issue] done.”
Check out Max Holloway’s comments below:
During the same interview posted above, Holloway showed support for Topuria, who is currently dealing with personal issues and has announced a hiatus from fighting.
Despite their differences in the octagon, the BMF titleholder has always shown support for his former opponent, even when the latter posted on X about him taking time off till the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Last year at UFC 308, Topuria was the first man to knock out Holloway. After that, ‘El Matador’ moved up to lightweight and grabbed the vacant lightweight strap with a Round 1 KO of Charles Oliveira.
On the other hand, Holloway also made a permanent move to 155 pounds after the Topuria loss and returned to winning ways against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 in July. After playing spoiler in Poirier’s retirement fight, he called out Topuria for a rematch, this time at 155 pounds.
The Georgian-Spaniard, however, has shown no interest in this matchup. He plans on fighting Paddy Pimblett next and then chasing a superfight with Islam Makhachev.
