Alexander Volkanovski to defend his title against Ilia Topuria

UFC 298 will headline the current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and number five featherweight contender Ilia Topuria for a featherweight title bout where Volkanovski will be seen defending his belt against Ilia Topuria, who got the title shot after his impressive victory over Josh Emmett. Alexander Volkanovski, who gave a tough challenge to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in their first fight, got knocked out by Makhachev in the first round of their second encounter when Alexander Volkanovski accepted the fight on two weeks short notice.

Alex Volkanovski lost only two fights in the UFC, and both of them were against Islam Makhachev. Islam Makhachev had to defend his title against Charles Oliveira at UFC 294, but due to a serious eye cut, Charles pulled out of the fight. Alexander Volkanovski accepted the fight on short notice, but a first-round KO by Islam Makhachev destroyed his plans to become a two-division champion.

Alexander Volkanovksi and Ilia Topuria would fight in the octagon on February 17, 2023, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

So far, these are the fights lined up for UFC 298: