What did Ilia Topuria say to Alexander Volkanovski prior to ice-cold KO at UFC 298?

Ilia Topuria made his childhood dream come true with a brutal knockout of Alexander Volkanovski, the long-reigning champion, at UFC 298. With the victory, Topuria became the first Georgian to get a hold of the UFC title in the promotion’s storied 30-year history.

Topuria’s victory over Volkanovski is undoubtedly the highlight of his career. In an interview in Spain, Topuria revealed the conversation he had with Volkanovski moments before his knockout.

Ilia Topuria told Alexander Volkanovski What before devastating KO?

Volkanovski has a penchant for talking with his opponents amidst the fight, as evidenced in his previous fights with Islam Makhachev, Max Holloway, and The Korean Zombie. Like the fight with Topuria, Volkanovski had a similar interaction with Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, moments before Makhachev knocked him out with a head kick.

Ilia Topuria, on the other hand, does not talk much in his fights, as he is laser-focused on landing the knockout blow. However, he has been brash and outspoken, much like his European colleague, ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, whose featherweight title run had startling similarities with that of Topuria.

Topuria was recently interviewed by Pablo Motos on his acclaimed television show El Hormiguero in which he revealed the conversation he had with Volkanovski amidst the fight“When [Volk] connected he celebrated. I told him ‘my turn is coming soon’. I repeated this to him twice, and when [my turn] arrived, the lights went out in Australia”, Topuria said to Motos.

Alexander Volkanovski’s coach claims Volk ready for rematch

After his title triumph at UFC 298, Ilia Topuria called out a fight with Conor McGregor something that is out of the realm of possibility. On the other hand, Alexander Volkanovski called for an immediate rematch in Spain, much to the dismay of fans and fighters worldwide who wanted the Australian to take a long time off.

However, it seems that Volkanovski is already preparing for an immediate rematch, as evidenced by the remarks made by his coach, Eugene Bareman. “He definitely needs to rest; he needs to rest his head. I mean, he needs to be sensible, but he also needs to, you know, he’s also will be very keen to get that rematch this year”, said Bareman in an interview with Combat TV.

Bareman also revealed that Volkanovski is not showing any symptoms of concussions from UFC 298 which was not the case after UFC 294. As for the fight itself, Bareman stated that Volkanovski was doing very well in the fight before Topuria knocked him out and the team is working tirelessly to prevent something like that from happening again.

Moreover, he also stated that the timeline for the next fight would depend on the medical clearance and also on the UFC’s schedule. Nonetheless, Team Volkanovski seems to be making the rematch with Topuria happen as soon as possible.

Do you think Alexander Volkanovski will win the potential rematch with Ilia Topuria? Leave your prediction below!