The UFC ended 2023 with a bang as an explosive card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas delivered on all fronts. Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa earned a Fight of the Night bonus for their three-round war, and both Cody Garbrandt and Josh Emmett delivered stunning knockouts over Brian Kelleher and Bryce Mitchell, respectively. Although the main event between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington didn’t result in the high-output war many were expecting, in general, the card was as advertised. As we approach a new year, the UFC is busy matchmaking behind the scenes to deliver entertaining cards in the build-up to UFC 300 in April. One of those cards is UFC 298 on February 17 as the organization returns to the West Coast, and the card is stacking up nicely with many mouth-watering contests.
UFC 298 Main Card
Headlining the event is the number three pound-for-pound Alexander Volkanovski as he makes his sixth UFC featherweight title defense against the unbeaten Ilia Topuria. With a record of 14-0, the number four-ranked Topuria is a worthy challenger to Volkanovski. However, the Australian has been dismissive of the Spaniard’s skillset over the last few months, pleading with Max Holloway not to fight Topuria so that Volkanovski could fight him instead. This may have been because the champion views Topuria as his only worthy challenger.
Number 3 takes on number 6 in the co-main event as Robert Whittaker takes on Paulo Costa at 185 lbs in a fight, which has been made on the third time of asking. The pair were initially due to fight way back in April 2021, but Costa had to withdraw due to illness. A contract dispute from Costa’s end scuppered plans for a fight at UFC 284 in February, but the fight has now been confirmed, and a win for either man will put them in a great position to fight for the middleweight title, currently occupied by Sean Strickland.
The strength of UFC 298 is highlighted by the fact that Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo isn’t even expected to be the co-main event. The former double champ, Cejudo, returns to the octagon for the first time since his split-decision defeat to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288. Only content with challenging for the title, a defeat for Cejudo could see him call time on his MMA career. Standing in his way on his road to a title shot is Dvalishvili, who is on a remarkable nine-fight win streak, including notable victories over Jose Also and Petr Yan.
Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry is another fight that has previously been scheduled twice, more recently for UFC 299 in March. The fight has been brought forward by a month, which will be music to Garry’s ears as he had to withdraw from his fight with Vicente Luque last weekend due to illness. It’s an exciting match-up as the pair have bad blood culminating from Garry’s decision to wear a t-shirt plastered with Neal’s mugshot in the build-up to when the fight was previously scheduled. With recent victories over Luque and Ponzinibbio, Neal will be a tough fight for the unbeaten Ian Garry.
Opening the UFC 298 card is Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura in what is a must-win fight for either man if they have aspirations of competing for the UFC heavyweight gold in the future. It’s been an up-and-down few years for Tuivasa, who became a fan favorite following five successive knockout victories. During this time, he coined the famous ‘shoey’ celebration octagon-side. Three back-to-back defeats followed against top opposition, and the Australian has an excellent opportunity to get back on track against Marcin Tybura, whose last outing was a defeat to the interim UFC heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, back in July at the O2 Arena in London.
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