After Ilia Topuria emerged victorious over Max Holloway at UFC 308, he fielded an interview from commentator and presenter Daniel Cormier. During the interview, the former heavyweight fighter whispered something in Ilia Topuria’s ear. This got fight fans intrigued. Could they be teasing a future fight? Maybe Cormer was showing how impressed he was with Topuria’s performance? Maybe even some sweet nothings?
Well, it turns out what was whispered was none of the above. In fact, it wasn’t even UFC-related.
Cormier took to X to answer the question from a fan, and the UFC Hall of Famer said that he was winding up Ilia Topuria by whispering the scoreline, at that point, between Barcelona and Real Madrid in El Clasico, which was taking place while the featherweight champion was fighting.
Georgian-Spaniard Ilia Topuria is an ardent Real fan, and even made his cage walk for the clash alongside Real legend Sergio Ramos, and Topuria was unhappy that the La Liga clash was scheduled for the same time as his own fight: “Maybe I got it wrong and instead of Holloway I will have to knock out the person responsible for scheduling El Clasico at the exact same time and day as my fight,” he said.
It was not a good night for Real Madrid, as they were beaten 4-0 by their bitter rivals at the Bernabeu, all the goals coming in the second half. Barca were 2-0 ahead when Topuria won his clash, something which he was reminded of by Cormier. It must be said, there is no beef between the two, it was all done as banter, and Cormier was actually left very impressed by Ilia Topuria.