Ilia Topuria is feeling pretty confident ahead of his first UFC title opportunity.
So much so that ‘El Matador’ has already added “UFC World Champion” to his social media profiles roughly two months away from his featherweight title clash with the reigning and defending king of the division, Alexander Volkanovski, at UFC 298 in Anaheim.
Topuria rides into his first championship opportunity with an undefeated 14-0 record, six of those wins coming under the UFC banner. ‘El Matador’ established his spot with a big unanimous decision victory over former interim title challenger Josh Emmett at UFC on ABC 5 in June.
Alexander Volkanovski isn’t buying Ilia Topuria as the guy to end his featherweight reign
Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski will be looking to bounce back after suffering a first-round knockout against current lightweight champ Islam Makhachev. ‘The Great’ stepped into the UFC 294 title tilt on 11 days’ notice and ultimately paid the price.
Though it was his second straight loss while challenging for the 155-pound crown, Volkanovski has looked practically unbeatable at featherweight and there’s nothing on Ilia Topuria’s resume to make him think that his reign at 145 will end in 2024.
“He needs to do something in February to show elite level because right now, I haven’t seen it,” Volkanovski told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “That doesn’t mean he’s not elite… But, there’s gonna be levels where you need to be more than just fundamentally sound. Like, if he thinks he’s gonna be able to outwrestle me, with what I’ve seen, he needs to show more than what he’s done, a lot more. Submission-wise, a lot more.
“I haven’t seen him do anything more special than any other of the guys that I’ve faced,” Volkanovski continued. “That doesn’t mean he’s not that good, but he needs to show me that. With the striking, again, durable, powerful dude, very fundamentally sound… But again, it’s so much more than that. I’ll leave it at that” (h/t MMA News).