We’re just three days away from the highly anticipated UFC featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria. The champion, Volkanovski, is just one of four fighters in UFC history who has made a successful title defense following a loss and has an opportunity in Anaheim to become the first fighter to do it twice (after losing twice to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev).
Going into the fight with Topuria, Volkanovski is the betting favorite, and despite things not going his way last time, he seemed rather nonchalant about the loss against Makhachev and brushed it off with a ‘we go again’ attitude.
Volkanovski on fight with Topuria
”There’s got to be adversities, you know what I mean?” Said Volkanovski. ”That’s why this is the perfect fight, coming off what happened (against Makhachev). Everyone has seen me at my lowest. Now I get to fight back, fight this undefeated prospect. The hype (for Topuria) is there; he’s doing a great job; I just need to go out there and be the experienced guy that goes out there and shows him what’s up, you know what I mean?”
There’s been a lot of trash talk from the uber-confident Topuria heading into the fight, but Volkanovski says it’s not getting under his skin; he’s just focused on the job at hand. Motivation isn’t a problem for the champion; he welcomes the doubters and says he’s looking forward to proving a few people wrong at UFC 298.
A typical question athletes get asked during fight week is ‘What’s next?’ which is usually followed by a response along the lines of ‘I’m not looking past my opponent.’ Volkanovski has no doubt he will be the victor and said that as long as the next challenger is a worthy contender, he doesn’t care who’s next in line for a crack at featherweight gold.
One of the narratives that’s been mentioned in the build-up to the UFC 298 main event is that Topuria will present a new challenge to the champion. He’s young and never lost, and his threats could pose an air of unpredictability. Volkanovski shrugged this off and mentioned that people said the same thing about his last opponent at featherweight, Yair Rodriguez, a fight which Volkanovski won comfortably. He’s not worried about the threat posed by Topuria and doesn’t give him much chance other than a ‘punchers chance.’
Volkanovski did mention Topuria’s boxing skills and power during the UFC 298 media scrum, but said that possessing such skills and landing shots are two different things, and he doesn’t think the challenger will be able to land enough on him to cause too much concern.
”If I didn’t go out and do what I did in October [lose to Makhachev], these conversations are much different [about Topuria’s chances], believe me. The post-fight press conference is going to be a totally different conversation” – said Volkanovski. ”I won’t be surprised, and you shouldn’t be surprised if I make it look easy.”
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