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On Sunday night, the 298th numbered tournament of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will take place in Anaheim, America, at the center of which will be the person of the last opponent of Russian Islam Makhachev, league featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The Australian suffered a crushing defeat from the best fighter of the promotion regardless of weight categories (P4P) and is now eager to rehabilitate himself for his failure. Sports explains why returning to the cage so quickly after a knockout can bury the career of a dominant champion.
UFC 298
- When: February 17 (18th Moscow time);
- Where: Honda Center Arena, Anaheim (USA);
- What time: the tournament will start at 02:00 Moscow time, main card — at six in the morning;
- Where to watch:The online broadcast will be carried out by the official UFC Fight Pass service. On public television, watch the broadcast at 06:00 Moscow time;
- Odds: 1.9 and 2.0 — a tiny advantage in favor of Volkanovski.
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The past year was the worst of Alexander Volkanovski's career. He lost two out of three fights, failed to become the fifth double champion in UFC history and was left without the first line in the P4P list.
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Both defeats to the older Australian were inflicted by Islam Makhachev, who twice defended the belt from the attacks of a champion from another division. The meeting in February ended with the victory of the Dagestani by unanimous decision, and already in October the domestic lightweight knocked out Volkanovski in the first round. Alex definitely shouldn’t have replaced the injured Brazilian Charles Oliveira and saved the tournament in Abu Dhabi. Makhachev is clearly not the kind of opponent you should take on on short notice.
But the 35-year-old Australian chose money. And now his hopes for a second title are at an end, and in the new weight category he will face a tough test in the face of a daring fighter who entered the cage 14 times and always left it with his hand raised.
To return after four (!) months seems to many fans and experts to be a huge risk. After all, Ilya Topuria, who knows no defeat, hits brilliantly and fights no less smartly, will enter the cage with the Wolf who has suffered a concussion. The Spaniard of Georgian origin is talented, talkative and self-confident. He harshly attacks Alex before the confrontation, going overboard in places… So much so that he turned thousands of fans against him, who sincerely want Matador to lose.
Here is how Ilya promoted the main fight of his career:
- dreamed of a superfight against McGregor at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid (“After the fight, he would tell his wife: “Baby, put on red panties. Topuria made us rich.”) This is absurd , because now the Irishman will hardly fit even into the welterweight division.Incompatibility of weights;
- turned to the tops of his division Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega with advice to retire. After all, he will never give them a chance to fight for the belt;
- moreover, the representative of Spain declared himself the owner of the belt before the title fight! On his Instagram page* he posted a post where he is standing in a photo with the organization’s championship belt. And in the profile description he added an “updated” record of 15-0 and the characteristic “UFC Champion.”
Isn't it too early? Even though the Wolf was knocked out in the fall, Topuria has no trace of such experience as the champion. Only the 27-year-old contender doesn’t see a problem in this:
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“I’ll win against Volkanovski, it’s inevitable. This is my destiny. I was born a fighter, a UFC champion. I know my level, I know myself, I know how to analyze my opponents. I am confident that I am the best fighter in the division. Even in the next weight category I will be the best. I’ll prove everyone wrong, it’s just a matter of time.” (MMA Fighting)
The champion treats the young predator condescendingly. Despite his failure at lightweight, Volkanovski is the king of his division, with five title defenses and status as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) featherweight in MMA history. At the moment, Alex has only two fighters left whom his fists have not reached — the undefeated Russian Movsar Evloev and, of course, Topuria. The Australian will have a chance to “educate” him very soon.
By the way, this is what Alex said on the YouTube channel of his friend and part-time ex- UFC champion Israel Adesanya about the future fight:
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"There is no animosity toward Elijah. He's doing everything right, the hype is already building: the undefeated fighter is talking a lot. And people enjoy it. And it’s not difficult for me to play this game, because I’m an experienced champion. I'm going to humiliate this guy, time will tell. At the post-match press conference he will speak differently. He will have to change his social media account description to “14-1 Contender.” I'm going to make sure he does it himself. Not a manager and not a wife.”
He also made a stunning video in which he ridiculed those who “pick on his age.”
All fights of February UFC 298
Main card:
- Alexander Volkanovski — Ilia Topuria;
- Robert Whittaker — Paulo Costa;
- Geoff Neal — Ian Machado Garry;
- Merab Dvalishvili — Henry Cejudo;
- Anthony Hernandez — Roman Kopylov.
Preliminary card:
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* The activities of Meta (social networks Facebook and Instagram) are prohibited in Russia as extremist.