Ilia Topuria decided to channel his inner Conor McGregor at the UFC 298 pre-fight press conference on Thursday.
Both Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski traded jabs at each other throughout the press conference, with things getting heated right from the get-go. Their heated exchanges only intensified as it got deeper into the press conference, with both men expressing their belief in making easy work of one another.
Ilia Topuria Channels His Inner Conor McGregor
In a move we’ve seen before, Ilia Topuria walked over to the other side of the stage and snatched the belt from Volkanovski.
This is something that was replicated from a past incident that occurred back in 2015. At UFC 189’s world tour press conference in Dublin, Conor McGregor stole the belt from then-champion Jose Aldo. McGregor then proclaimed that Aldo was “looking at the champion” and had his home crowd going wild. This is something that we hadn’t seen previously, but set the stage for future title challengers like Topuria to do the same.
The sequences played out nearly identically, with the champion attempting to get his belt back which led to a face-off. However, this time the champion was first to the mic. Volkanovski was quick to shut Topuria and his antics down,
“You may as well take advantage of it now, you’re never gonna see it again… Maybe one day you can be a great champion, I’ll kick your a** first, you’ll learn your lesson. Maybe you can bounce back after that, but until then, get your hands off my belt.”
Ilia Topuria looks to capture UFC featherweight gold for the first time this Saturday! A tough challenge stands across from him in longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski, but many feel the Georgian could be the one to finally take gold from the champion.
Did Ilia Topuria remind you of Conor McGregor at the press conference? Will he have the same fate as the Irishman and potentially make history against Alexander Volkanovski? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured Image Credit to Embed from Getty Images and INPHO/Cathal Noonan
