Conor McGregor Calls Out Ilia Topuria for Stealing Old Punchline

After a yearly rotation of crude banter, Conor McGregor positively reacts to Ilia Topuria and his UFC 317 PPV title win.

Conor McGregor Calls Out Ilia Topuria for Stealing Old Punchline

Conor McGregor reacts to Ilia Topuria’s spectacular win and a similar one-liner (Source: X)

Conor McGregor bore witness to Ilia Topuria’s ascent to capture the vacant 155-pound title at UFC 317 this past Saturday. After the strap was relinquished, ‘El Matador’ warranted a top shot given his back-to-back double KO title campaign last year. Subsequently, Ilia Topuria separated Charles Oliveira from his senses with a huge right to become the new 155-pound king.

With his Round 1 KO, Topuria has now done the same feat Conor McGregor once did. McGregor’s achievements were slightly more impressive, as he concurrently held the UFC 145 and 155-pound divisional gold. However, he relinquished the stake to his 145-pound title due to ballot inactivity.

“Notorious” went on a rant when Topuria spoiled Money Mac’s huge $17 million prop for former rival Max Holloway to defeat him at last year’s UFC 308 PPV main event. Per his Crypto Casino & Sportsbook site and crypto casino brand lineup, he had $50k riding on such an investment. However, this time, he had a more positive reaction to Ilia Topuria playing spoiler.

Congrats on winning my old titles, Ilia! He said he’s gonna rest his balls on Paddy’s head too, haha fair play,
Good lightweight scrap that one is as well, in my opinion. UFC is back? Or still missing something? Three KOs back to back to back is very good. No one can deny the knockout. I like…

Conor McGregor reacts via X

The Alicante-Georgian joined a list of UFC elites as the 10th fighter to boast winning a strap in two separate weight classes. He does find a tag of similarity in Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Georges St-Pierre, and others.

These similarities were long time coming, given Topuria styled him as the next style striker after ‘old model’ McGregor and even looked up to him once, only to snub him off that spot in recent times. Other than Conor McGregor, the Spaniard was also a Forbes España ’30 Under 30′ A-lister; the only two to do so from the UFC/MMA side of things.

Other than stylistic similarities, ‘The Notorious’ McGregor also took a shine to the throwback to his one-liner, “rest my balls on your forehead,” with it now subjected to Scouser Paddy Pimblett. Yet another close name to both McGregor and the new lightweight king has also lauded this UFC 317 fallout.

Sean O’Malley hilariously ‘thanks God’ in not matching up, posts reaction to Ilia Topuria’s UFC 317 PPV KO stint

When it comes to the art of slipping, standup and counter, and an untested grappling/Georgian wrestling, Ilia Topuria boasts his stripes well and is ready to become the #1 pound-for-pound fighter. On a skill-to-skill showcase, ex-bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw once even billed the Spanish fighter as more crisp and greater than Jon Jones!

Following UFC 317, Sean O'Malley thanked God that he didn't have to face Ilia Topuria
Following UFC 317, Sean O’Malley thanked God that he didn’t have to face Ilia Topuria (Source: X)

Former champ, similarly acute striker, and Best ESPY Fighter from last season after his UFC 299 PPV maiden defense, Sean O’Malley, once kept double-division dreams at 145-pounds and even wanted a Topuria-shaped challenge. Often taking cues from Conor McGregor and his standup-heavy style, he even wanted to match up with Ilia Topuria for a UFC Spain debut PPV title spot.

But the scope of those callouts is long gone. He even billed Ilia Topuria to tie the spot for the promotion’s Pound-for-pound top place. “Suga” filmed his reaction on his YouTube channel to the devastating KO win this weekend; he thanked God that he never went up against him after all:

Holy fu*k — Islam vs Topuria needs to happen! …He’s up there with Jon Jones. Knocked out Volkanovski, knocked out Max, knocked out Charles… Islam next at 170. Holy fu*k—. Who would even fight Ilia at 155 next? Holy fu*k man…Thank God he didn’t accept my call out… After I beat ‘Chito’, I called out Ilia and he got scared and ran to 155. No, I’m just kidding. Thank God the UFC didn’t make that fight!

Sean O’Malley on his Official YT Channel (@SugaSeanUFC)

While some others are dejected at the gimmicky placement and promotion, O’Malley was even excited to see Topuria vs. Pimblett go down in the near future. O’Malley was enthusiastic as he spoke about how much he was looking forward to the skill-to-skill aspect of that possible matchup.

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