Alexander Volkanovski had high hopes of defending his featherweight title at UFC 297.
Unfortunately, that is no longer the case after ‘The Great’ stepped inside the Octagon on 11 days’ notice last month for a short-notice clash with reigning lightweight world champion Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski’s gamble didn’t pay off as he suffered a brutal first-round TKO after the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ landed a perfectly-timed head kick in the opening minutes.
As a result, concussion protocols forced Volkanovski to move his return date back by one month. He is now set to defend his title against the division’s fifth-ranked contender, Ilia Topuria, in the UFC 298 headliner on February 17.
“Yeah obviously it was scheduled for January,” Volkanovski told Fox Sports Australia. “We just thought that would be a little bit too soon, you know what I mean? We want to 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 in football and whatnot.
“We thought that January was a little too soon and I was lucky enough to have UFC and other guys there make that happen and move things around for me, which I’m grateful for. I think the timing will be perfect. I’ll be back in there soon, but not too soon” (MMA Mania).
Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis in January
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria in February
Sean O’Malley vs. Chito Vera in March
LET’S GOOOOO
— Jake Foley
(@JFoMMATalk) November 6, 2023
(@JFoMMATalk)
Alexander Volkanovski Aims to ‘Humble’ Ilia Topuria
Defending his 145-pound crown for the sixth time, Alexander Volkanovski will face undefeated division standout Ilia Topuria. El Matador’ goes into the contest with a perfect 14-0 record, six of those wins coming inside the Octagon. His victory over former interim title challenger Josh Emmett in June landed Topuria the opportunity to compete for UFC gold.
“He’s a powerful dude, he’s good everywhere,” Volkanovski said of his opponent. “He’s not one-dimensional, he’s obviously very well-rounded, I just believe my skills and my understanding of the game, it’s just going to 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, so I’m glad to be the man to do that.
“He’s a powerful dude, he likes his boxing, but again, I just need to show him that I’m a whole different breed. He’s gonna come in confident. Probably even more confident after my last performance. There’s a lot of people who are gonna be like, ‘What’s going on here?’ And I can’t wait to show them why I’ve been the king of this division for so long.”