Alexander Volkanovski issues stone-cold warning to ‘delusional’ Ilia Topuria ahead of title bout at UFC 298

Alexander Volkanovski will be looking to defend the featherweight title at UFC 298 against Ilia Topuria after 2023, which saw him go 1-2. It needs to be noted that the two losses he suffered in the year were against Islam Makhachev at lightweight and he is still undefeated in the featherweight division.

Ilia Topuria is not only undefeated in the featherweight division; he is undefeated in his professional MMA career. Topuria will be looking to become the first Georgian champion in the UFC with a win over Volkanovski.

Alexander Volkanovski warns Ilia Topuria

Alexander Volkanovski was recently interviewed by Zac Pacleb of UFC.com, where the Australian champion delved into his professional career year in 2023 and what he has in store for 2024. From the conversations, it was evident that the featherweight champion had high hopes for 2024.

It needs to be noted that between his losses to Islam Makhachev at lightweight, he knocked out Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290, becoming the first fighter to finish Rodriguez inside the octagon. “I want everyone to remember that I’m king of this division, and there’s a reason for that.”, Volkanovski said in the interview given to UFC.com

By referencing ‘everyone’, Volkanovski was referring to Topuria, who has even claimed that he would knock out Alexander Volkanovsi to become the featherweight champion of the UFC. Topuria’s recent fight was against Josh Emmet in a fight that Topuria dominate from start to finish with judges even giving out 10-8 and 10-7 rounds.

Nevertheless, Volkanovski is a slight betting underdog for the fight, mainly due to his status as a long-reigning champion. Nonetheless, Topuria has what it takes to dethrone the Australian, particularly after his devastating loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.

Volk’s UFC title defense record

Alexander Volkanovski is one of the GOATS in the featherweight division. He had beaten all the former champions of the division except for Conor McGregor, who hadn’t fought in the division since he defeated Jose Aldo to win the featherweight title.

Alexander Volkanovski has five successful defenses of the featherweight title. He won the title from Max Holloway at UFC 245 in a masterclass performance where he utilized leg kicks in full effect. He would defend the title in the rematch before fighting Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung, a.k.a. The Korean Zombie.

After a dominant five-round victory over Brian Ortega, where he somehow escaped the mounted guillotine of Ortega, he would TKO the Korean Zombie in his next bout, which is also the retirement fight of Jung. The victory over the South Korean sets up a trilogy bout with Max Holloway who has been beating contender after contender.

Volkanovski would outstrike the self-proclaimed ‘best boxer in the UFC’ Max Holloway and wash away any doubts anybody had in the rematch with Holloway. In his last fight at featherweight, he TKOed the dynamic striker Yair Rodriguez to defend the title for the fifth time. Only Jose Aldo, with 7 have more title defenses than Volkanovski.

Do you think Alexander Volkanovski would be able to defend the title more than 7 times? Leave your comment below!