Ilia Topuria, the new UFC featherweight champion, has called out Conor McGregor, MMA's biggest star.

Just moments after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski on Saturday in the main event of UFC 298, Topuria took the opportunity to issue a challenge to McGregor to a fight in Spain, where Topuria lives and trains.

“And Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I will be waiting for you in Spain,” Topuria said in the post-fight interview.

The challenge, like any that goes McGregor's way, seems very unlikely. Although McGregor began his UFC career at featherweight, he has not fought at 145 pounds since he knocked out José Aldo in 13 seconds back more than eight years ago. Since then, McGregor has fought in the lightweight and welterweight divisions on the rare occasions he decides to step into the octagon.

McGregor has not fought since his doctor stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. And despite he and Michael Chandler serving as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” last year, the two men have not and may not ever fight. UFC CEO Dana White said the fight will “eventually” happen recently, although he said he was “hoping” for a fall date, meaning McGregor would be 36 years old and gone more than three years since his last fight. Chandler will turn 38 in April and last fought in November 2022, when he lost to Poirier via submission at UFC 281.

Topuria, on the other hand, is 27 and seemingly just entering the prime of his career. With the second-round stoppage victory against Volkanovski, who was making his sixth featherweight title defense, Topuria is now 15-0 in his career and has finished five of his seven UFC fights. He should have plenty of challengers at featherweight, including Max Holloway and Yair Rodríguez, who both lost to Volkanovski and were ranked ahead of Topuria at the time of Saturday's title fight.