Undefeated featherweight contender Ilia Topuria (14-0) headlines the UFC 298 pay-per-view against champion Alexander Volkanovski on Feb. 17. “El Matador” is confident heading into the title bout and has ‘no doubt’ that he’s going to put Volkanovski’s ‘lights out.’
Topuria is ranked third in the weight class and has six consecutive wins inside the octagon. He’s coming off a one-sided decision win over Josh Emmett in his last outing and submitted Bryce Mitchell in the previous bout.
“He’s very good and he brings always a different strategy with every opponent which makes the difference. But he’s going to face someone really, really smart and tough on Feb. 17th,” Topuria told The Schmo.
Volkanovski went up a weight class on 11 days notice to rematch lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in his last fight. The two first fought at UFC 284 in Feb. 2023 with Makhachev defeating the featherweight titleholder by unanimous decision. In the rematch at UFC 294, Makhachev knocked out Volkanovski in the first round. Topuria believes he’ll do the same.
“Of course I’m going to put his lights out,” Topuria said. “Without any doubt, I’m going to put him to sleep. He’s always like, ‘there are levels. Blah, blah, blah.’ Of course there are levels. There is me, so I’m going to show him levels. I’m going to him the new generation of mixed martial arts.”
“I’m going to dominate him everywhere. In the striking, in the wrestling, in the ground, every-f**king-where I’m going to beat him,” Topuria continued.
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/ilia-topuria-has-no-doubts-that-hell-put-alexander-volkanovski-to-sleep
