Volkanovski “The Great” faced defeat at the hands of Topuria, further proving the curse that no male or female fighter ever wins or defends a title fighter after age 35. Volk’s losing streak began in his previous match against Islam Makhachev in the featherweight division. His second-straight defeat at the hands of Spaniard fighter Llia Topuria saw the end of Volk’s four-year reign over the 145-pound division and the loss of his UFC featherweight championship title.
The match took place at the UFC 298 on the 18th of February as the main card event in the featherweight division. It gained a host diverse audience, including the CEO of Facebook and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, who was a supporter of the reigning champion Volkanovski.
As expected of two experienced fighters, both opponents cautiously kicked off the first leg, avoiding strikes and keeping up their defenses. Volk gave a couple of heavy low kicks and a left hook that connected with Topuira’s jaw. The Spaniard returned with precise jabs and remained on his feet. Topuira kept backing Volk into a corner, but the champion managed to wriggle out. He step around the Spaniard’s attack while delivering some high kicks of his own. Topuria soon managed a low kick that hurt the Australian before the opening round finally ended.
The next round began with more intensity as both opponents went in for the kill. Topuria came in swinging a right hand and left hook that backed Volk to a corner before the champion quickly recovered and stepped away. Topuria followed with a leg kick that didn’t connect before throwing a left punch. Volk returned with a right jab.
After a closely fought round, the Spaniard finally delivered on his promise of dominating Volk. He executed a combo body shot that shook the Australian. He followed with a right hook that took Volk out cold.
During interviews before the fight, the two strikers had exchanged words, with Topuria calling out Volk and the Australian tagging Topuria as “Conor Mcgregor Wannabe.”The Spaniard has always been confident in his victory against Volk and even updated his Instagram bio to “UFC world champion” and “Undefeated 15-0” before the match. Turns out his prediction was accurate.
Speaking at the post-fight conference, when asked how he felt at the moment, Volkanovski said, “I felt good in there, and I’m still in high spirits, but he caught me when I was about to do more.” He congratulated Topuria but requested a rematch after Topuria celebrated his win. When asked what he’d do differently in a rematch, Volkanovski replied, “I don’t want to say too much, but It’s pretty obvious, you don’t want to be caught in front of him, especially in a cage, i’ll leave it at that.”
The new champion, Topuria, revealed to the press how amazing he felt after the win and how excited he was to celebrate with his family. After being asked how he felt in the first five minutes of the fight, he said, “ The guy is really good. He surprised me a little bit, it took some time to study him, and I had to knock him out in the second round.” Topuria said, “I was just waiting to find my timing yunno. He caught me with a couple of punches and was celebrating, and I told him its my turn”.
When asked about the rematch, Topuria said, “He’s such a good person, and at this point I’m like ok I’m going to give him a rematch because he’s a good person but at the same time it’s time to move on it’s time to clean up a little bit of the division, it’s time for the new generation to have new challenges and new faces.”
