MAX HALLOWAY QUESTIONS ILIA TOPURIA PARADING AROUND WITH UFC AND 'BMF' TITLES, TOPURIA RESPONDS

Max Holloway was the “BMF” champion. Ilia Topuria knocked him out. So Topuria is the BMF champion now, right?

Apparently it’s not that simple, as Topuria’s incredible knockout of Holloway in the UFC 308 main event only secured Topuria’s featherweight championship. Holloway won the BMF title with a fifth-round KO of Justin Gaethje this past April, but UFC CEO Dana White never stated that Holloway’s title was on the line Saturday. White later told reporters Holloway is still the BMF even after the loss.

None of that stopped Topuria from parading around with two titles after beating Holloway, which “Blessed” was asked about at the evening’s post-fight press conference.

“Could you imagine [lightweight champion] Islam [Makhachev] walking around with two belts after knocking out [featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski]?” Holloway said. “Let that sink in. The belt was in a different weight class for a different reason. I think the fans make it happen, if the UFC really wanted to make it happen they would have put it up, but Dana said what he said, so he’s the boss man.”

Topuria was also asked why he was waltzing around with the BMF title in addition to his UFC title and he wondered why it wasn’t up for grabs in the first place.

“I never understand why they didn’t put the BMF belt on the line,” Topuria said. “It has to be on the line since the first day, but they don’t want to make it official, I’m going to make it official by myself.”

“It’s going to be a little bit weird for them to promote him as a BMF, but is what it is, no problem,” he added. “I’m going to keep it in my house. … Now, I’m the new baddest motherf*cker world champion.”

Prior to fighting Holloway, Topuria suggested he could challenge for titles in multiple divisions, targeting bouts with welterweight champion Belal Muhammad and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Holloway was asked if he thought Topuria could get Islam next, but he still sees options at 145 pounds for Topuria.

“I don’t know,” Holloway said. “I saw Dana White talk about it, Dana White said that Ilia got a lot of contenders here, so we see what happens. Certain situations come up for certain fighters because of certain workload that they do, so at the end of the day if he gets it that’s cool, but probably not. He has Volk and Diego [Lopes] ramming down the door right now, so I think they might keep him down there.”

“It’s hard to go against Islam,” Holloway said when asked to evaluate the potential matchup. “His fighting style is a tough one. He likes wrestling, he likes striking now, he’s falling in love with his striking, so it’s hard to win against Islam.”

- Alexander K. Lee | @AlexanderKLee 

NATE DIAZ-JORGE MASVIDAL NEWS CONFERENCE ERUPTS INTO BRAWL

 A brawl broke out between members of Nate Diaz's and Jorge Masvidal's teams during a news conference for their July 6 boxing match after Diaz abruptly left before faceoffs.

The news conference took place in Anaheim, California, to promote the new date and location for the upcoming Diaz-Masvidal fight. The boxing match was originally scheduled for June 1 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood but was relocated to the Honda Center in Anaheim on July 6.

Tensions were already high between the two fighters, who last met in the UFC for the inaugural BMF championship in 2019. The highly anticipated encounter ended on a sour note when a doctor stopped the fight because of a cut over Diaz's eye. Masvidal was awarded the victory and was the first BMF champion, but the two fighters have had lingering issues since then that they looked to settle inside of a boxing ring. But Diaz appeared completely uninterested in participating in Thursday's news conference.

"I'm done with this whole press conference s---," a visibly annoyed Diaz said. "I'm glad we're here promoting these great fights that are happening, but, besides that, my work here is done."

Diaz got up and began making his exit before organizers asked for him to return to face off with Masvidal. The Stockton, California, fighter returned to the stage, flexed briefly for the cameras and left before Masvidal could meet him. The two exchanged words and both teams swarmed in.

As the situation intensified, a member of Diaz's team threw a punch at Masvidal after the Cuban fighter slapped at him. One of Masvidal's boxing coaches, Jorge Capetillo, responded with a punch of his own and a brawl ensued between members of both teams. Masvidal emerged after security restored order and didn't appear to have suffered any injuries during the fight. Diaz didn't seem to have participated in the brawl and wasn't seen in any of the videos that have surfaced on social media.

- Andreas Hale, ESPN