Ilia Topuria, German-born while representing Spain and Georgia, gets his shot at UFC Gold this weekend. The 14-0 featherweight faces his toughest test to date when he faces off against one of the greatest featherweights in history, Alexander Volkanovski, at UFC 298 in Anaheim.
Dana White Calms the Ilia Topuria Hype
Dana White spoke with Kevin Iole about the upcoming UFC 298 event and the brash talk and attitude of the title challenger this weekend.
“As much of a stud as [Ilia Topuria] is, he’s still got a lot to prove,” stated White.
“Listen, when you’re undefeated, you’ve never tasted defeat, and you’ve been on the rise that this guy is on, that’s the way you should be thinking and that’s what your mentality should be. But we’ll see how it plays out on Saturday night.”
Quotes via LowkickMMA.
The build-up for the headliner at UFC 298 is being compared to the enormous rise of Conor McGregor and his fight with Jose Aldo. Many believe this is the most anticipated featherweight title matchup since that infamous 13-second KO in 2015.
Ilia Topuria’s Confidence
Throughout his featherweight rise we have seen Topuria stake his claim to the title shot however since the announcement of this fight he has ramped up the confidence and brash attitude towards the champion and the division as a whole.
Topuria believes he will finish long-standing champion Volkanovski in the very first round, “I see myself finishing him in the first round – knockout.” Current champion Volkanovski has been perfect his entire UFC Featherweight career and has only lost to Lightweight king Islam Makhachev and Topuria although he has never lost he has never faced anyone of this calibre before.
Three former challengers Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez, and Brian Ortega have all been dismissed by the brash Topuria. “Max, Yair, Brian Ortega; all of them, they can go and retire. I’m never gonna give them the chance to fight for the title. Never!” Quotes via MMANews. Dismissing top contenders before winning the belt is audacious to say the least and an updated Instagram bio reading UFC Champion and 15-0 shows he is oozing with confidence ahead of UFC 298 this weekend.
His most recent win was a dominant decision against violent puncher Josh Emmett back in June 2023. This took his record to 6-0 in the organization and guaranteed his shot this weekend. He has phenomenal striking paired with a black belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu making him one of the most well-rounded fighters in the sport and possibly Volkanovski’s toughest Featherweight test since Holloway.
Featured Image Credit to Embed from Getty Images
