Ilia Topuria, the undefeated UFC featherweight, aims to become the first Georgian champion in the promotion at UFC 298. Topuria will face long-reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California, at the Honda Center.
Volkanovski recently stepped in at UFC 294, replacing the injured Charles Oliveira on 12 days’ notice against Islam Makhachev. In a rematch of UFC 284, where Makhachev narrowly won via decision, the Dagestani fighter knocked out the Australian in the first round of the bout with a head kick.
Ilia Topuria drops bold claim prior to Alexander Volkanovski bout
Preluding his title fight at UFC 298, Ilia Topuria was interviewed by Dave Schmulenson a.k.a the Schmo in which the Georgian fighter sent a stern warning to his next opponent Alexander Volkanovski, who had earlier made the statement that he would embarrass Topuria.
“I’m gonna put his lights out without any doubt. I’m going to put him to sleep,” Topuria stated his intent to knockout Volkanovski. It is not the first time that he has made such a statement. Moreover, Volk has even called Topuria delusional for such statements made in the past.
“He’s always like, “There are levels, there are levels,” and blah, blah, blah. Of course, there are levels, and there it’s me. So, I’m going to show him levels,” Topuria trolled Volkanovski for the statements he made about levels and even vowed to show his improved levels at UFC 298.
“I’m going to show him the new generation of mixed martial arts on a different level, of course. I’m going to dominate him everywhere, in the striking, in the wrestling,” Ilia further said of his intent to demolish Volkanovski.
Ilia Topuria’s impressive run to UFC title shot
Ilia Topuria made his UFC debut on UFC Fight Island 5 in October of 2020, along with current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis. On his debut, Topuria faced off with Youssef Zalal at featherweight and won via unanimous decision. This was followed by a three-fight KO streak over Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, and Jai Herbert.
The victory over Herbert was followed by a submission of the then-undefeated Bryce Mitchell after which he made his first UFC Fight Night headliner against Josh Emmet. Topuria outclassed Emmet en route to a unanimous decision with one of the judge’s scorecards reading 50-42.
Topuria came into the UFC with an undefeated 8-0 record comprised of 7 submissions and a sole knockout. In the UFC, he is 6-0 with 3 knockouts, 1 submission, and 2 decisions. In the UFC, except for his fight with Herbert at lightweight, he has exclusively fought at featherweight.
Topuria is on a three-fight post-fight bonus streak. He won the Fight of the Night bonus for his latest fight with Emmet. Moreover, his fights with Mitchell and Herbert had earlier garnered him Performance of the Night bonuses.
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