Ilia Topuria struggled to find the right words.

When asked what life has been like since Dana White wrapped the title belt – which he earned with a shocking dismantling of pound-for-pound elite Alex Volkanovski – around his waist in Southern California eight months ago, the cool, The 27-year-old's self-confident facade briefly.

He blinked. He sighed. He looked around. And then, as if he was back at the Honda Center in Anaheim, stealing the show again at UFC 298, he smiled.

The kind of smile only a champion can understand.

“When you allow yourself to dream something big and then have the opportunity to actually achieve it, it can't be described in simple words,” he said. “It's amazing. I wish everyone could feel it at some point in their life.”

Max “Blessed” Holloway was there. And although both he and Topuria describe their publicly contentious relationship as competitively cordial, he hopes the Spaniard doesn't leave the weekend as happy as he started it.

The two are vying for featherweight supremacy at the UFC 308 show in Abu Dhabi on Saturday afternoon (US time), and Bleacher Report sat down with them on consecutive days to discuss, among other things, how much it would mean to leave the UAE with the coveted strap.

“Visualization is key in this sport and I’m not going to lie, it’s going to feel pretty good. It’s going to feel really good,” Holloway said. “It was a long road. It was a long time. Lots of naysayers. But we’ll have the last laugh.”

It's not hard to understand his desire for a cathartic moment. After all, it wasn't long ago that another title shot for Holloway, let alone another reign, seemed like a pipe dream.

The now 32-year-old, a professional since 2010, reigned at 145 pounds from mid-2017 to late 2019, defending three times before facing his personal nemesis, a then-unheralded Volkanovski, who defeated him by unanimous decision in the UFC 245, came away with a split verdict seven months later and ended the trilogy with a five-round shutout at UFC 276 two years ago.

The kindest advice after the fight was that Holloway should find a different weight class. Others went a step further and suggested that with 30 often punishing pro fights on his resume, he should steer clear.

“A lot of people said I would never be able to fight for the 145 title again,” he said.

“They said I should just retire because I had nothing else and nothing left to prove. Since they've been watching me since I was 20, they think I'm about 40 years old. But I'm only 32 and I'm just about to have my best time, and I can remind you of it again.

Three wins, two KOs and two performance awards – including a KO of the Year-worthy icing of Justin Gaethje for the company's “BMF” belt at UFC 300 – have already gone a long way, but you won't forgive Topuria for that to be overly impressed, or at least not to act like it.

That's not surprising considering he has an unblemished 15-0 record since his debut as a teenager in 2015 and had strung together two unanimous decisions, three KOs and one submission in the UFC before Volkanovski failed in their clash in the achieved a clinically effective second-round finish last winter.

By the way, Volkanovski hadn't lost to anyone not named Islam Makhachev since 2013.

“Not at all,” Topuria said when asked if he noticed anything special while watching Holloway fight. “He doesn’t have the strength to turn off my lights. There is a lot of volume but nothing on the bottom. It's all kickboxing, no MMA. I don’t see any particular strengths.”

Certainly harsh words. But before they are dismissed as predictable pre-fight bluster, consider that they were delivered in the relaxed, even-tempered tone of a man who has just had a day at the spa.

And if you think he's worried about the appearance of overconfidence, think again.

“I don’t care,” he said. “I know my abilities and at the same time I am convinced that only good things will happen in the fight and in my future. If someone thinks someone else is the best in the weight class, I don't like to complain about it.” anything. If I don't like it, I will change it.

What he hopes to change most is Holloway's mind when it comes to what their fight looks like.

Although reviews of Holloway's fight with Gaethje – particularly the final scene in which the Hawaiian invited his opponent to a slugfest in the center cage – were uniformly excellent, Topuria dismissed it as merely a highlight and implored his upcoming rival to start his fight the same way Away.

His goal? Equals or exceeds the UFC record for fastest ever knockout by punch (six seconds), set by welterweight Duane Ludwig at a Fight Night show in 2006.

“Everyone points to the last 10 seconds, but where was that for the rest of the fight?” Topuria said. “This is how we will decide who the real BMF is. A real BMF stays in the middle and fights, he doesn't step out. I hope he does. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for it.”

The atmosphere of Holloway? Don't hold your breath, buddy.

“The moment was the moment because of the way the (Gaethje) fight went and in the end you do it,” he said. “It's called the 'Blessed Man Forever' belt. Now people know it as the worst Mother Effer Belt. But it's not the dumbest Mother Effer Belt, you know? So at the end of the day he can think whatever he wants.” Think if he does that he just looks crazy.