A Ilia Topuria (15-0) was quite amused that Max Holloway (26-7) appeared at the ‘Media Day’ of UFC 308 (yesterday, Wednesday) with a Barcelona shirt on his shoulder. “He hasn’t seen a football game in his life,” he commented in an interview. But the Hawaiian took the opportunity to go against his rival. The elastic, with the ‘9’, could have remained an anecdote… but The Classic has been very present in this ‘Fight Week’ in Abu Dhabi.
First it was Ilia Topuria charging against LaLiga for placing the Real Madrid – Barcelona schedule parallel to their fight. Here, in fact, there is a mystery that is felt even in the United Arab Emirates. What time will the fight be? UFC sources say that between 11:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. (Spanish time), the ‘Matador’ team argues that they have been told the same thing… but ‘ESPN’, TV with rights in United States, shoot around 10:45 p.m. If the addition of the Bernabéu match is long and Topuria keeps his promise of knocking out ‘Blessed’ in R1… maybe Abu Dhabi ends before Madrid.
But although the Topuria – Tebas ‘beef’ (nothing special, really) had remained a funny anecdote… at Thursday’s press conference the topic came up again… through the future of UFC Spain. When asked when the MMA company will land in our country, Dana White, the ‘boss’ of the UFC, reacted easily: “2025. Sure.” Then came the ‘problems’.
“Madrid or Barcelona.” The Las Vegas resident even stopped to ask one of his advisors, and confirmed that they keep both routes open to disembark in Spain. Ilia, meanwhile, insisted on the Bernabéu and said that he had a pending talk with Dana… but Holloway intervened to add some spice to the matter: “We’re going to Barcelona, guys.” And Topuria then told him: “Don’t tell me Barcelona or we’re going to have to leave a mark on this ground.”
2025, for sure. Madrid or Barcelona
Ilia, let us remember, has made it clear in the last year that his desire is to fight at the Santiago Bernabéu. But he also acknowledged at ‘Media Day’ that he is realistic and that those who make decisions in the UFC have made him see that there are other options. Of course, he insists: “I will do everything in my power to bring the UFC to the Bernabéu.”
I will do everything in my power to bring the UFC to the Bernabéu
And if it is true that it was something that had been rumored in national MMA circles given the problems that were occurring in bringing the UFC (Dana White declared at the time that all the venues in Spain had problems reserving dates since the pandemic) , Barcelona had never sounded so loud. And with the Bernabéu disappearing (the evening would be at dawn), it seems like a new ‘Clásico’… between the WiZink Center and the Palau Sant Jordi.
