“Shot defending childhood best friend” – Ilia Topuria’s ‘bullet hole’ rumors getting a definitive answer impresses fight fans

Ilia Topuria takes on featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, 26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC, at UFC 298. Headlining the 17th February event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, both fighters have subsequently let on their aspirations to dominate the other wholly, earning praises from fans and peers. Even the bantamweight titleholder, Sean O’Malley recently nudges that he eyes to headline $2.3 Billion Marvel against Topuria after his maiden defense. Now, the latter has gone viral for a whole other reason.

In the recent past Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), shared his insights on the opponent-to-be. This was while speaking with Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes. He has nudged that Volkanovski would be ‘one of the easier fights‘ of his career. Now, despite his oozing confidence, it is rather a post on X that has grabbed more eyeballs. A picture recently went viral, that shows the fighter with punctures on his upper thigh.

Along with the collaged snippet, comes an IG post that mentions Topuria got –

Shot defending childhood best friend.

Accordingly, this has taken the MMA community by storm. Recently, “The Great” and his ‘more motivated than ever’ training montage for title defense had fans much hyped for his chances. But this is sure to turn some heads.

Topuria has been on a roll, earning bonuses in his past three outings against Jai Herbert, Bryce Mitchell, and Josh Emmett. Now, he looks forward to a dominant finish on Volkanovski. While some fans are not settling on ‘bullet holes’ being the definitive answer, it has garnered much traction.

Fans’ reactions to Ilia Topuria’s bullet hole rumors

Illia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski will lock horns soon, at UFC 298. Both fighters are settled on giving it their best shots. Volkanovski, who let go of his two-division glory aspiration for now, recently gave a definitive statement on dominating the title challenger.

The 145lbs titleholder is brimming with confidence, in rectifying the ‘0’ on his rivals’ statistics. Meanwhile, Topuria himself has some similar connotations in mind.

But amidst their mild banter, a whole other reason has taken fight fans by storm. An imagery has surfaced that shows Topuria with what looks like apparent bullet holes. The discourse has earned a mixed bag of responses.

Check out how some of the fans have reacted to it on X.

While most diehard fans have lauded the fighter, some keen-eyed pundits have noted that this is not how a bullet trajectory would appear.

Moreover, even other fans have quipped that Volkanovski should subsequently target his thighs with oblique kicks. Such hilarious banter, though, does not affect the outcome of the high-profile match. Only time will tell what the future holds for the two featherweights.

In case you missed it:

• Sean O’Malley reignites DOUBLE CHAMP motivation; vows to defeat Ilia Topuria like Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor
• “I’m gonna teach him a lesson,” Alexander Volkanovski vows to EMBARASS ‘cocky’ challenger Ilia Topuria

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