Ilia Topuria reveals game plan that led to Alexander Volkanovski finish at UFC 298

At UFC 298, ‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria executed his game plan to perfection and secured a second-round knockout victory over Alexander Volkanovski, becoming the new featherweight champion. The previously undefeated ‘The Great’ suffered his first loss in the featherweight division, and Topuria has now revealed the strategy that led to his impressive win.

In a conversation with Europop’s Kristina Avsarkisova, the featherweight champion expressed:

“It was precisely that – long combinations. We’ve noticed that Volkanovski moves a lot around the octagon, but we also knew that, at some point, he would stop and exchange with me. I mean, you’re not going to run around forever. You move for a bit, then stop to attempt a combination.”

Continuing, Topuria said:

“We knew this was coming so we stuck to long combinations because once you slip or block the first one or two punches, it’s a natural instinct to stop and lower your hands. You rarely expect the third, fourth or fifth punch thinking that the attack is over hands go down, yet the punches keep coming. I had to grab that opportunity. I was waiting for Alex to stop and exchange punches and I knew that would be the time when the KO would come. This is why I was very calm and patient.”

Take a look at the game plan Ilia Topuria shared regarding his upcoming fight against Alexander Volkanovski in the comments below:

In the second round, Topuria successfully executed his game plan, unleashing a barrage of punches that dethroned Volkanovski after a four-year reign as the featherweight division champion. Despite facing criticism for his bold statements before the fight, ‘El Matador’ proved himself by delivering an impressive finish and earning the Performance of the Night award.

Ilia Topuria explains his desire to fight Conor McGregor

Following his victory in the featherweight championship, Ilia Topuria has stated his desire to face Conor McGregor as his next opponent. In a recent interview with Kristina Avsarkisova of Europop, ‘El Matador’ explained why he finds this matchup compelling when asked about his preferred opponent for his next fight:

“If it was up to me, if I could, say, send a letter to Santa Claus, it would probably be Conor McGregor. Simply because he represents the first big wave of European MMA and it’s time for us to move on to the next generation. Conor fulfilled his role. He came and took the sport to a new level. It’s time for the old guard to be replaced by the new generation.”

At the 6:35 mark, read Ilia Topuria’s thoughts on potentially facing Conor McGregor in the future below.

Even though he is keen on competing against McGregor, Topuria didn’t hold back on expressing his admiration for the former two-division champion. ‘El Matador’ listed ‘The Notorious’ among his top three all-time favorite mixed martial artists, alongside Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov, acknowledging their contributions in the growth of the sport.