Ilia Topuria was once enamored with Conor McGregor, but those days are long behind him.

Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), the current UFC featherweight champion, is disappointed with McGregor in the years following his prime as a two-division UFC titleholder. The Irish superstar has had multiple legal issues over the years, and his fighting career seems to be all but officially over.

With Topuria's success in the featherweight division, he is currently eyeing a shift up to lightweight to face new competition. "El Matator" was asked if he would entertain a showdown against "The Notorious," which prompted him to eviscerate McGregor verbally for how he's carried himself.

"That guy is so sick," Topuria said on "FULL SEND PODCAST." "He has some problems in his inside world. At the same time, when he was starting in mixed martial arts, he was an idol for all of us. He was a great fighter, represented great values. He did a lot for the sport, but at some point, he betrayed all the values that put him in that point.

"He got crazy; he started to be disrespectful with everyone around him. With all the people in the U.S., with all the fighters, with everyone. At some point, you fall, you know? The people come against you. They don’t like that. They support you, you have to give them the same love back."

It's no secret that Topuria took notes from McGregor as he rose to prominence. From always being the best dressed at press conferences to delivering bold predictions on the microphone, fans quickly recognized some similarities too.

However, when it comes life outside of a fight week, that's when things are different. Topuria admits he likes to have a few drinks when its time to celebrate the fruits of his labor as an undefeated champion, but he firmly keeps things under control. He believes McGregor's inability to party in moderation has contributed to his downfall and perhaps a premature end to his fighting career.

"(He was) Starting to party like he wasn’t a sportsman," Topuria said. "Taking drugs, all that kind of sh*t. We all know that you’re always going to have that temptation. But if you are really a champion, a f*cking legend, you can (be) against everything. You have to have that control about the things, not the things have the control about you."

Topuria is well on his way to being the next big superstar in the sport. MMA Junkie's 2024 Male Fighter of the Year obliterated two of the featherweight division's all-time greats, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in one year. He now wants a superfight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, and believes he would win by knockout.

The 28-year-old carried the UFC title onto the pitch for an honorary kickoff at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid before a Real Madrid game, which is an incredible honor. Topuria aims to bring a UFC event to that same stadium one day to create an unprecidented event. He believes his global popularity will soon surpass McGregor, who has not fought since July 2021.

"I want to be more than Conor McGregor, you know what I mean?" Topuria said. "The values he represents, it’s not the same values I represent. So, that’s why I think I’m going to be bigger than him. Actually, I’m bigger than him right now. At this point, I’m bigger than him. Maybe more people knows him, but they way they know him, I don’t want anyone to know me that way.

"So, maybe it takes me a little bit longer, but I want to do it from the good way. And I’m very patient. I know there’s no elevators in life, and slow is the fastest way to get where you want to be. I don’t want to rush anything."

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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ilia Topuria: Conor McGregor 'betrayed all the values' that made him a superstar