UFC 298: Alexander Volkanovski Explains Return To Fight Ilia Topuria After KO Loss

Volkanovski will try to defend his featherweight title for a sixth time in February.

Alexander Volkanovski has explained his decision to take on the unbeaten Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 in February after he suffered a knockout loss in his most recent outing.

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“The Great” claimed the UFC featherweight title in 2019 and has successfully defended the belt on five occasions. Volkanovski attempted to become a two-division champion at UFC 284 last February but lost a decision to Islam Makhachev, and after stepping up on short notice for a rematch last month the Australian was stopped by the lightweight champion in the opening round.

Volkanovski had already indicated ahead of UFC 294 that he intended to defend his featherweight belt against Topuria early next year, and during an interview with Fox Sports Australia the 35-year-old explained how his recent loss slightly altered the plans for that matchup.

Volkanovski was stopped in the first round at UFC 294.  :: (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)

“Obviously it was scheduled for January, we just thought that would be that little bit too soon,” Volkanovski said. “We wanna follow all protocols and do everything right, obviously after the last one. And I’m lucky enough to have a great team around me who’ve dealt with a lot of concussions and that through football and whatnot. So I’ve got the right team around me, and we just thought that January was a little bit too soon.”

The loss to Makhachev at UFC 294 was the first time that Volkanovski has been stopped since his fourth pro fight back in 2013 and was also just the third time he's tasted defeat in his career. 

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Taking some extra time to recover from that loss to Makhachev is likely a wise move considering how dangerous Topuria has looked in the UFC, but as much as Volkanovski respects the unbeaten fighter’s skills he fully intends to hand him his first loss in February.

Topuria has quickly risen through the UFC featherweight rankings.  :: (David Yeazell/USA TODAY Sports)

“He’s a powerful dude, he’s good everywhere. He’s not one-dimensional, he’s obviously very well-rounded. I just believe my skills and my understanding of the game is just gonna be that little bit too much for him. He’s a young, hungry dude. Undefeated, very, very confident, but I think he needs a little bit of humbling.”

Currently the UFC’s #5-ranked featherweight contender, Topuria is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Josh Emmett in May that marked his first headlining slot since he joined the promotion in 2020.

Along with the featherweight title fight between Volkanovski and Topuria, UFC CEO Dana White also recently announced that Sean Strickland and Sean O'Malley will defend their middleweight and bantamweight belts for the first time against Dricus Du Plessis and Marlon Vera in the first quarter of next year.

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