Morning Report: Alexander Volkanovski says Max Holloway deserves Ilia Topuria rematch

Alexander Volkanovski thinks Max Holloway has earned another crack at Ilia Topuria.

On Saturday, Holloway rebounded from his featherweight title loss to Topuria last year, winning a unanimous decision over Dustin Poirier to retain his ‘BMF’ title in the main event of UFC 318. It was the final fight in Poirier’s career, and afforded Holloway a measure of revenge as he was down 0-2 in their series before Saturday, and for Volkanovski it was another example of just how great “Blessed” really is.

“I’m gonna give Max a moment right now to just say how incredible that was,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “It is not easy to come back from losses. He’s showed, time and time again, from big losses — not just little losses, world title losses, off tears. Even that last one, our third fight, to win the way I did, you’re probably thinking, ‘Am I done?’ You’re going to start having those negative thoughts. For him to bounce back like he did and go on another tear, and then have his moment with Justin Gaethje, already incredible. Then, his first KO loss.

“He’s been back from big losses before, but never KOed. How’s he going to be in a ‘BMF’ fight coming off a KO loss? … That’s going to mentally get you. Max, I don’t think it did. Even when he did get dropped, he still came back to what he wanted to do. … Incredible. Honestly incredible fight from Max to come back like that. Touché.”

Following his win, Holloway was laissez-faire about his next fight. Still the ‘BMF’ champion, Holloway is now a full-time lightweight, with wins over two of the top names in the division. That being said, he also recently lost to Topuria, who is now the lightweight champion, though that was down at 145 pounds. Holloway said he still has unfinished business with Topuria, but said he’s fine defending the ‘BMF’ belt next if that’s what the UFC would prefer. And for Volkanovski, he thinks Holloway deserves another crack at “El Matador.”

“I know Max just fought him, but now it’s at lightweight where they both sort of want to be,” Volkanovski said. “You’ve got to think of who Max beat at lightweight. You’ve gotta go off the lightweight fights. Max beat Justin Gaethje, who I think is the No. 1 contender, and Poirier, who just fought for the title. So he literally beat the two top guys, the two main guys that you usually need to beat to get the title shot. That’s his only fights in lightweight — his streak right now — and it’s against the two top guys. You’d say he’s next. You would think so.

“Or Arman. Obviously, Arman was there. I don’t know what’s the deal with that. Paddy Pimblett, they did the faceoff. There’s a bit of bad blood. I don’t know if that’s happening, I don’t know if that’s locked in. But with Max, Max’s next fight could probably be for the title. I think that would be fair.”

Whoever it comes against though, Volkanovski admits to having some concern about Holloway’s future. Though he has one of the all-time great chins in MMA history, Holloway has now been dropped in three consecutive bouts, including suffering his first knockout loss to Topuria. For as good as he still looked on Saturday, Volkanovski questions if that might be a big problem against Topuria.

“We haven’t really seen Max dropped like that. Like, getting hurt,” Volkanovski said. “I don’t know, I hate saying it. You talk about it, but is the chin exactly the same? I don’t know. I don’t know if I can say it is. So if they fight again, or moving forward, Max can’t rely on his chin like he used to, got to be a bit more strategic.”

---

Results. Max Holloway took a unanimous decision over Dustin Poirier at UFC 318.

Chickens. Dana White shuts down Jon Jones headlining UFC White House: ‘I just can’t risk putting him in big positions.’

Roost. Jon Jones ‘disappointed’ in Dana White denying him UFC White House headline spot.

Fair. Max Holloway blasts Dana White for UFC 318 bonus snub: ‘How the hell did we not get Fight of the Night?’

Judging. Dustin Poirier disagreed with judges’ scores in UFC 318 retirement fight: ‘It felt a lot closer to me.’

Beef. Jon Jones responds to Daniel Cormier threat: ‘Those ass whoopings must’ve left more than bruises’.

PFL. Costello Van Steenis scored a massive upset over Johnny Eblen at PFL Africa.

Boxing. Oleksandr Usyk knocks out Daniel Dubois in fifth round to reclaim undisputed heavyweight title.

More Boxing. Manny Pacquiao and Mario Barrios fought to a majority draw.

---

UFC 318 Post Show.

UFC 318 Watch Party.

UFC 318 Watch Party highlight of the insane Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez fight.

Dustin Poirier’s final post-fight scrum.

Max Holloway post-fight scrum.

Dana White post-fight scrum.

Israel Adesanya learns to DJ.

---

On To The Next One.

---

Respect.

More respect.

Pretty lame. Sometimes things can be about other people.

Elias Topuria, new fighter.

He back.

I’m here for all the MMA memes of the viral moment of 2025.

Henry Cejudo has joined the movement.

Case in point.

---

TBD vs. TBD; UFC 319, Aug. 16

---

Hell of a career, Dustin Poirier. Damn good fighter and even better dude, and you went out in style.

And what else is there to say about Max? Dude continues to rock. Every time he faces a setback, he bounces back. Top-15 fighter of all time.

---

---

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.