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Daniel Cormier questions Ilia Topuria's championship approach following claims that he turned down rematch for UFC 305

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UFC commentator Daniel Cormier has questioned Ilia Topuria's approach, following Joe Rogan's claims that the featherweight champion turned down the opportunity to rematch Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 305.

UFC 305 takes place on August 18th from the RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia, and currently doesn't have a main event.

It is rumored that UFC middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis will defend his title against New Zealander, Israel Adesanya. The South African champion has hinted on his Instagram that he has accepted the call to fight in Perth.

That though, may not have been the promotion's first option.

Ilia Topuria's feud with Max Holloway continues

Following his emphatic star-making performance at UFC 300 earlier this month, Max Holloway called for a title fight against 'El Matador' sparking the beginning of their feud.

The two have continuously gone back and forth with each other regarding a possible fight, with it most likely coming next for both.

Max Holloway recently appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast, claiming that Ilia Topuria doesn't want to fight anyone in the top 15.

"Ilia didn't want to fight anyone in the top 15, (he wants to fight) himself, I don't know, motherf***** wants to fight himself. This is the guy we're dealing with, we had a bible verse-off on Twitter (X) everybody is saying 10-8 Holloway because of the verse I used against him.

"Then he writes a paragraph to me that I didn't even read because of how long it was, I was tripping out, it was like an angry girlfriend text." Holloway joked.

Topuria has been weighing up who he wants to make his first title defense against - after beating Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 - and said he would only fight Holloway if he put his 'BMF' title on the line too.

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Joe Rogan, though, claimed that the Spaniard had the offer to rematch Volkanovski at UFC 305 in Perth, but turned it down.

"I don't know who he wants to fight next. But I guess he feels like he's the champ and can call the shots. I know that he turned down the Perth one (UFC 305), the Volkanovski rematch." Rogan claimed.

Daniel Cormier weighs in on the claims and questions Topuria's approach

Fellow commentator, Daniel Cormier, claimed that the 27-year-old becoming champion was as exciting a title change as we've ever had, but questioned his approach as a champion when it comes to picking his next fight.

"You need the name (on your record) that comes from the generation before. Ilia seems to be taking another approach, I don't know exactly what it is." Cormier said in his recent YouTube video.

"He said he wasn't going to fight Brian Ortega, he said he wasn't going to fight Max Holloway and now it sounds like he's not wanting to fight Alexander Volkanovski again. Those are the names from the featherweight paths, he doesn't seem to want to fight those guys." Cormier added.

Despite becoming one of the UFC's biggest active stars following his title win, Topuria made it clear that he wants to defend his 145lb title in Spain. Cormier though has questioned how much of a say the 27-year-old has in his next fight.

"I don't know if he has as much say as he thinks he does. Max Holloway is clearly the (next) guy, if not, Alexander Volkanovski.

"Right now it's not coming off great, because he's batting away all these guys with no clear idea of who else there is." Cormier stated.

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