Former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria headlines this weekend’s UFC 317 fight card against former lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira for the vacant 155-pound championship.
It’s fight week and Topuria has been doing the media rounds to promote the event. ‘during an interview with SHAK MMA, Topuria was asked about former two-division champion Conor McGregor’s recent nightclub incident in Ibiza.
Last week video surfaced of McGregor punching a man twice in the club. Topuria reacted to the incident criticizing McGregor seemingly diminished punching power.
“Did you see the last video? I saw it. He connect two punches and he wasn’t even able to knockout an average man,” Topuria said. “He connected two punches and the guy walked off like normal, like anything happened.”
Shock moment Conor McGregor knocks man out with TWO punches in Ibiza nightclub pic.twitter.com/NclBkDuSGF
— The Sun (@TheSun) June 17, 2025
McGregor hasn’t fought since UFC 264 in July 2021. He hasn’t won a fight since defeating Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020. While his career as a fighter made him famous, McGregor has become just a known for his behavior outside of the octagon.
In 2019, McGregor drew heavy criticism for punching an elderly man in an Irish pub. In the same year, surveillance footage showed the Irishman snatch a phone from a fan and smash it. No charges were brought against McGregor for the incident. He was arrested in 2020 and questioned over allegations of sexual assault. Last November he was found guilty of sexually assaulting Nikita Hand back to 2018.
McGregor’s return has been long discussed but isn’t likely to ever happen. He was scheduled to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024 but pulled out of the fight with a toe injury after backing out of a press conference to promote the event.
As for Topuria, he has the opportunity on Saturday to do what McGregor did, move up to the lightweight division and capture a second UFC championship.
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