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The UFC has a new featherweight champion as Ilia Topuria announced himself in stunning fashion on the grandest of stages as he iced Alexander Volkanovski.
On February 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Topuria brutally knocked Volkanovski unconscious in just two rounds.
It came just one day after Heavy reported that Volkanovski may have lost the fight before he even entered the Octagon due to a combination of reasons — age difference, weight matters, and seemingly allowing Topuria to get his hands on the belt two different times this week.
On Saturday, Topuria got his hands on the title and can, this time, take it home with him as he ended Volkanovski’s reign, made a statement of his own, and even called out the former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor for good measure.
“Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I will be waiting for you,” Topuria said on the ESPN broadcast after the official confirmation of his win.
It’s a fight that would have a helluva build-up if it were to come to fruition as Topuria’s ascendancy is reminiscent of the Irishman’s up to the point in which he announced himself to the world with a 13-second drilling of Jose Aldo.
Though Topuria’s knockout win over Volkanoski wasn’t as fast, it was as fierce — and just as newsworthy.
The fight was shaping up to be a stellar one with Volkanoski landing 47 of his 107 strikes according to UFC data seen by Heavy. Volkanoski targeted all of Topuria’s frame, throwing shots at his head, body, and legs.
Unperturbed at how sharp Volkanoski appeared, Topuria threw back and dropped Volkanovski when he was in the middle of a combination.
With Volkanovski slumping to the floor, Topuria pounced like a predator onto his foe to hammer home the victory until the referee separated them and rewarded the Spaniard with the statement win.
Watch it right here:
With the reality of the win dawning on him, Topuria raised his hands and rested them on his head, with his mouth agape.
With victory, he advanced his pro MMA record to 15 wins (five KOs, eight submissions, and two decisions). He remains unbeaten.
Topuria Was Thrilled With The Win
Nobody seemed more confident than Topuria throughout this week, as he bragged that he’d be the man to defeat Volkanovski.
“I feel so happy,” Topuria said on the ESPN broadcast following the 15th win of his career.
“They’re going to tell you, you can’t do it. They’re going to knock you down. Just trust yourself. Work tirelessly, have faith and everything is possible. Look at me now.
“I just know my skills. I work so hard. I worked so hard for this one. I knew one day I would become a UFC world champion. It doesn’t matter where you come from, if you know where you’re going. It’s much more important what’s in front of you than what’s behind you.”
‘He Caught Me,’ Volkanovski Said
Volkanovski has fought in nothing but title fights since his featherweight championship win over Max Holloway in 2019, but has now lost two fights in a row after coming unstuck to Islam Makhachev in a lightweight rematch last year, and now Topuria.
“Well done to him,” said Volkanovski, offering no excuses. “He caught me.”
The 35-year-old added: “I was going to start working everything but he got me. Obviously, he’s a hard hitter. We knew that going in. He wasn’t meant to land that like but he did. Credit to him. \
“Obviously, I’ve been champion of this featherweight division for a long time. He keeps mentioning Spain. Maybe we do a rematch over there in Spain.”
Regarding his knockout win, Topuria finished by remarking that Volkanovski was knocked out “cold.”
He said: “I just had to throw a lot of punches in this fight, a lot of combinations and this is what I did.”
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