Alexander Volkanovski Picks Ilia Topuria to ‘Learn a Lot’ and Win Rematch Against Justin Gaethje

Alexander Volkanovski believes Ilia Topuria can learn from his UFC Freedom 250 loss and return stronger in a rematch with Justin Gaethje.

Alexander Volkanovski Picks Ilia Topuria to ‘Learn a Lot’ and Win Rematch Against Justin Gaethje

Alexander Volkanovski backs Ilia Topuria to beat Justin Gaethje in a rematch [via The Mirror and MMA Fighting]

Alexander Volkanovski knows Ilia Topuria‘s skills in the octagon better than most. As such, he had picked him to beat Justin Gaethje last Sunday. But ‘The Highlight’ shocked the world as he beat the double champion to capture undisputed gold for the first time in his life. Despite the shocking turn of events, Volk still backs Topuria to win a potential rematch against the newly crowned lightweight champion.

Heading into the White House card, ‘El Matador’ was significantly favored to retain his lightweight title. However, it became apparent from the starting bell that Gaethje had brought El Matador a fight he was not expecting. The challenger bloodied the champion’s face with jabs in the first round and despite getting knocked down in the second, the American lightweight survived.

The tides of the battle had turned by the third and the fight was stopped by Topuria’s corner at the end of the fourth round. However, Topuria’s former opponent believes that fighting the right fight will make the difference for the double champion in a rematch against the UFC lightweight champion.

Ilia will learn a lot from that. I think Ilia wins the rematch, and that’s no knock on Justin at all. Ilia was the favorite for a reason. If he doesn’t rush as much, fights at a little better distance, and does what he usually does—setting nice traps—he’ll eventually find him. Being so aggressive is sort of what cost him, I believe.

Alexander Volkanovski via The Ariel Helwani Show

The former featherweight has addressed the public on social media after his shocking loss. The former champion made no excuses for it, instead congratulating Justin Gaethje for his win.

Nonetheless, Topuria’s unexpected strategy of walking down the ‘Highlight’ while absorbing his strikes definitely played a factor in his loss at the White House. However, Volk still gave credit to Gaethje for sticking to his game plan and fighting the perfect fight in order to cause one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.

[Justin Gaethje] goes in as a massive underdog at the white house and then fights the perfect fight and gets the win. Like that’s what adds to this story, I think that’s incredible and good on him.

Alexander Volkanovski via the Ariel Helwani Show

Despite Volkanovski’s astute analysis now, he was actually flabbergasted when El Matador was unable to continue the fight last Sunday. The Australian featherweight’s stunned reaction went viral as he watched the fights backstage.

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Alexander Volkanovski and Sean O’Malley were shook backstage at UFC Freedom 250 by Ilia Topuria’s loss

Alexander Volkanovski was at the White House event cornering Mauricio Ruffy against Michael Chandler. Ruffy won his fight by knocking out Chandler in the first round in a lopsided fight. After a quick night at the office, the Australian fighter was sat backstage with the Brazilian lightweight and other UFC fighters like Sean O’Malley, watching the main event unfold.

Mauricio Ruffy, Alexander Volkanovski
Alexander Volkanovski and Mauricio Ruffy at UFC Freedom 250 [via Instagram]

A camera backstage caught the reaction of Volk and ‘Suga’ as the fight was called off after the 4th round. The UFC featherweight champion was barely able to string together a sentence as he watched Justin Gaethje backflip off the cage, euphoric in victory. Behind him, O’Malley stood speechless in disbelief, mouth agape, watching the broadcast.

You’re kidding. That’s well that’s. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe that man!

Alexander Volkanovski said backstage at UFC Freedom 250

Volkanovski was knocked out by Topuria in 2024 at UFC 298. Despite this, he had earlier fancied another shot at becoming double champion by rematching El Matador at lightweight. Similarly, Suga had also called out Ilia Topuria after beating Marlon Vera at UFC 299. But he quickly also joked about how lucky he was that the Spaniard didn’t accept his callout.

Ultimately, it will be a while before the former double champion returns to the octagon as he returns from the facial fractures he suffered at UFC Freedom 250. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski has other fights awaiting him as he eyes a return this fall.

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