Ilia Topuria, a rising contender in the featherweight division, defeated Alexander Volkanovski this past weekend, causing Volkanovski to suffer his first defeat of his career in the featherweight division.
The fight between the two took place in the main event of UFC 298, with the Australian fighter making his comeback to defend his title after being knocked out by Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, which took place in October 2023.
There were fears that Volkanovski was returning to face Topuria too soon after his loss to the lightweight champion. This was Volkanovski’s first defeat due to knockout in his career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Michael Bisping, a former champion, responded to those worries by saying that they were unfounded before the bout. However, after suffering a knockout defeat at the hands of “El Matador,” the former featherweight champion was questioned about whether or not he experienced any residual effects from his fight at UFC 294, at which he was competing against the Spaniard.
‘The Great’ made the following statement during his news conference following the fight:
“No, take a look. Nothing can be taken away from Topuria. Everything is there. You are going to fall to the ground if he lays his hand on you in such a manner. Simply put, I don’t care about that at all. A clean right hand was displayed there. I believe that if you allow one of those to land on your chin while you are caught with your back against the fence, you are most likely going to go down. This is true regardless of who you are. Therefore, you need make sure that you do not allow him to capture you. Because he was able to catch me, I will not take anything away from him.
Ilia Topuria shares what surprised him about fighting Alexander Volkanovski
In the fight against the dangerous Alexander Volkanovski that took place at UFC 298, the rising contender Ilia Topuria finally realized his destiny.
It was hoped that “The Great” would be able to successfully defend his featherweight title for the sixth time, but he was unsuccessful in Round 2 of their main event fight. It is well known that the Spaniard possesses power that is capable of halting the show, and when he was applying pressure to his opponent against the cage, he discovered an opening to hit a superb right hand.
Volkanovski was knocked out cold by the punch, which resulted in him suffering his second defeat resulting from a knockout.
Immediately after the battle, ‘El Matador’ was interviewed by ESPN Mixed Martial Arts. During the course of the conversation, he discussed his title victory and the things that shocked him about his fight with the Australian.
As Topuria put it:
“He took me by surprise. When it came to his jabs and his mobility, he was really quick. The manner in which he was standing inside the cage was something that took me by surprise. Investigating him while he was confined in the cage required a little amount of my attention. But in the end, we were successful in completing the task.”
