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UFC 298: Volkanovski v Topuria — Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Last night (Sat., Feb. 17, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Honda Center in Anaheim, California for UFC 298. After a few weeks of Apex averageness, a high-profile card filled with intriguing match ups was just what the doctor ordered! The Featherweight title bout atop the card, which pit longtime champion Alexander Volkanovski opposite undefeated finisher Ilia Topuria, was a must-watch main event. The rest of the card featured well-known names and great match ups — how could anybody complain about Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa or Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili? That’s the good stuff!

Let’s take a look back over at UFC 298’s best performances and techniques:

A Generational Talent Arises

Until Ilia Topuria, we’ve never had an undefeated UFC Featherweight champion.

There’s a pretty simple reason: divisional depth of talent. The Featherweight division has exceptional fighters well outside the rankings. Most divisions offer an opportunity to make mistakes and win anyway, whereas weaknesses tend to be discovered and punished quickly on the undercard.

Topuria is special. Alexander Volkanovski looked tremendous in the cage, fast and technical as we’ve ever seen. He had a smart game plan that revolved around establishing kicks to disrupt Topuria’s movement then start sticking him with jabs as Topuria tried to push through the kicking range. To an extent, it was working!

The Spaniard is just too dangerous though. From his first calf kick to the final right hand that floored Volkanovski, every shot Topuria threw was just so punishing. Even as Volkanovski began to increase the gap in total shots landed, the atmosphere never changed: Topuria was always one clean connection away from a sudden shift in fortunes.

Really, Topuria knocked out Volkanovski the first time he successfully cornered him into the fence. It took like a six-punch combination to do so, but as soon as Volkanovski had nowhere to go, no angle to cut, no stance to shift … the overhand landed, and it landed hard.

Ilia Topuria is 27 years old, 15-0, Featherweight champion of the world. This is a division with a history of great champions, but we’ve yet to see one quite like “El Matador.”

An Excellent Co-Main Event

Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa was such a great fight! Both men came into the fight with clear strategies and developments to their game, which is the most interesting kind of fight in my book. Whittaker ended up edging the close decision, but there was great work all around.

The Australian lived up to his pre-fight promises, upping the aggression significantly. He stayed in the pocket longer, slipping inside punches and answering with multiple counter shots. Generally, his combinations were a little longer than usual. In addition, he played the jab and calf kick combo more than at any point previously, chewing up Costa’s calf throughout the fight.

Costa looked damn good himself! The Brazilian’s own jab and low kick have never looked better. Generally, all of his kicks were so fast, including the random spinning wheel kick that nearly knocked Whittaker cold at the end of round one. Costa hasn’t been the most active in recent years, but this performance proves he’s still among the best Middleweights in the world.

As an aside: Whittaker looked great prior to the Dricus Du Plessis fight, and he just definitively proved that he’s far from washed. Maybe it’s time we acknowledge that “DDP” is pretty good at fighting?

The Machine Doesn’t Stop

Merab Dvalishvili didn’t have any major issues in the cage opposite Henry Cejudo. The former champion landed a nice left hook in the first round and scored a bit of top control, but it’s hardly the first time in Dvalishvili’s career that he’s coughed up the opening five minutes.

The second round tends to go a whole lot differently.

Such was the case here, as Cejudo was a little winded even after winning the first. Dvalishvili, meanwhile, was just getting rolling. His right hand started landing more and more consistently, and he took Cejudo down by snatching up a single leg and tripping him over just like any other opponent. Actually, Petr Yan and certainly Jose Aldo probably did a better job of stopping those single legs overall, despite their comparative lack of Olympic credentials.

Once Dvalishvili takes momentum into his corner, the only way to win is knock him out. Cejudo swung gamely, but his feet and arms were moving way too slow to make such an impact. Dvalishvili was in complete control and cruised to a victory, showboating all the way.

Give the man his title shot.

Fluffy Breaks Down Another Middleweight

Roman Kopylov did a lot of things correctly against Anthony Hernandez. His left kicks were downright nasty. He struck well off the back foot, circled a lot, and ripped the body often. He defended the first 10 or so takedown attempts that came in his direction.

None of that deterred Hernandez. He walked through some unpleasant shots and kept firing, kept shooting, and kept pushing until his own opportunities started to emerge. Midway through the first, Hernandez found success by feinting to draw out a response then stepping forward with multiple right hands against the Southpaw.

Hernandez’s success with his hands started landing him in the clinch, where he built upon his offense with hard elbows and knees. Suddenly, Kopylov had to start worrying about more than the takedown, and those takedowns began to land.

The momentum moved into the “Fluffy” corner slowly but steadily, resulting in a sudden finish. He bowled Kopylov over in an awkward moment and immediately jumped his back. The strangle was locked in a minute later, and Hernandez had done it yet again! He’s now won five in a row, the second longest winning streak at 185-pounds.

A Top 10 opponent should be next.

A Wild Strawweight War

Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern was an absurd contest that (mostly) saw Lemos beat the life out of Dern. She picked her apart with nasty calf kicks and heinously powerful punches, though Dern was still dangerous enough on the floor to put her on the defensive on a handful of occasions.

It was a great fight, and I wrote an entire article about it right HERE!

Oh Brother …

It is hugely commendable that Junior Tafa stepped up to replace his brother Justin Tafa on just a single day’s notice against Marcos Rogerio de Lima. It was not, however, the best idea.

The problem here is that Tafa had not worked his way up to a fight opposite de Lima. The Brazilian is not an elite Heavyweight, but he’s highly experienced and has a lot of cage time against top Heavyweights. He’s been on the UFC roster for a decade, whereas Tafa entered this cage with just SIX professional fights.

It was a mismatch regardless of the short-notice circumstance, which only enhanced the divide. De Lima ran through his opponent, chopping his lead leg apart quickly, rocking him with punches, and throwing him to the floor with relative ease. Tafa didn’t land anything of significance, and though he survived to see the second round, the first low kick de Lima found after the break ended the contest.

It’s a good bounce back for de Lima, who’s now won three of his last four, while Tafa learns a valuable lesson about what it feels like to be in the cage with a dangerous Heavyweight veteran.

Additional Thoughts

Zhang Mingyang defeats Brendson Ribeiro via first-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): Neither of these debutants walked into the cage with any intention of seeing the second round. Right away, the two knockout artists were standing in the pocket, firing three- and four-punch combinations. Somebody was going to fall, and a crisp 1-2-3 from Mingyang ensured Ribeiro hit the canvas first! It’s hard to take away too much from this quick finish, but China’s first Light Heavyweight representative now has 11 wins via KO and hasn’t lost a fight since October 2019. Maybe he’s one to watch?
Danny Barlow defeats Josh Quinlan via third-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): Barlow fits the mold of a really talented athlete picking up MMA quickly. A pro for less than three full years, Barlow has quickly put together an undefeated record, relying on fast hands and good Southpaw fundamentals — a dangerous combination at any level of the sport. Against a solid challenge in Quinlan, Barlow earned a clean debut victory. He was consistently able to manage distance via an active jab, allowing him to line up counter shots and occasionally burst forward with combinations. The damage slowly added up, but Quinlan looked downright battered when the referee stepped in after a knockdown early in the third.
Oban Elliott defeats Val Woodburn via unanimous decision: This wasn’t a great fight. It wasn’t even a particularly interesting one. Woodburn’s grappling is really subpar, and his kickboxing form isn’t great either. That said, one exchange in the first 90 seconds of the fight deserves mention: Elliott kicks Woodburn FLUSH in the face with an audible thud. Understandably, he charges forward and swings for the finish. Unfortunately for him, Woodburn didn’t seem at all bothered by the head kick and promptly dropped Elliott with a left hook! It didn’t amount to anything, but what a wild scene.

For complete UFC 298: “Volkanovski vs. Topuria” results and play-by-play, click HERE!