Volks Slight Betting Favorite Over ‘El Matador’

Reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will make his next 145-pound title defense against No. 5-ranked title contender Ilia Topuria in the upcoming UFC 298 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, recently made official for Sat., Feb. 17, 2024 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Volkanovski, 35, is currently the -192 betting favorite on DraftKings, with the 26 year-old Topuria a slight underdog at +160. Those numbers are not far off from the opening money line (-175 to +130) and you can expect their odds to fluctuate — in both directions — as we get closer to fight night.

Volkanovski (26-3) is coming off a shocking, first-round knockout loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 just last month, a short-notice rematch that marked the Aussie’s second (unsuccessful) attempt to join the coveted “champ-champ” club. With those aspirations behind him, Volkanovski will get back to work in his own weight class.

Topuria (14-0) kept his undefeated streak intact by knocking around featherweight bruiser Josh Emmett at UFC on ABC 5 last June. “El Matador” was able to leapfrog the rest of the Top 5 because Volkanovski and longtime rival, Max Holloway, have done a pretty good job of shutting down most of the eligible contenders.

Expect more UFC 298 matchups (and subsequent odds) to be announced in the coming weeks.