“That’s the only thing he can do…” Ilia Topuria brimming with confidence, vows to dethrone Alexander Volkanovski

UFC 298 headliner features Ilia Topuria vs. Alexander Volkanovski in February 2023. Topuria believed he would beat Volkanovski for the featherweight title. Now, ‘El Matador’ revealed a few things about the featherweight champion from his regular tape study and claimed it was an easy fight.

In an interview with ESPN Deportes, Ilia Topuria said he studied tapes of Alexander Volkanovski every day. As such, he had made observations on what to expect and how to approach the fight. Here is what he said:

Every day, I wake up and watch film, even videos of old trainings that are available. I watched everything and I don't know what other people see, but he doesn't stand a chance. He has zero opportunity. I don't see any holes but I can tell how he attacks. The only thing I see is that he is going to kick my legs. That's the only thing he can do.

Ilia Topuria via ESPN

Further in the interview, Ilia Topuria made a bold statement that his striking in this fight would be a masterpiece. He quoted the age-old verse of ‘Hit and don’t get hit’ and planned to deploy the strategy. Later, he believed that the finish would present itself and promised to stay patient until then. However, earlier, he predicted finishing the fight in the first round. What happens remains to be seen.

Ilia Topuria entered the UFC as an undefeated prospect with a record of 8 wins and no losses. In no time, he garnered six more wins and earned a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. On the other hand, Volkanovski won the title in 2019 and defended it five times successfully. So, Topuria was expected to have his hands full in UFC 298 to dethrone the featherweight champion.

Ilia Topuria predicts a first-round finish against Alexander Volkanovski

UFC CEO Dana White announced the fight between Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski last month. Soon, ‘El Matador’ dropped a Hollywood-style teaser of the fight on his X handle. He captioned the video with his prediction of the fight, which was a first-round finish.

In the video, Topuria put a rose in a box that was marked with the number 15. This hinted at his undefeated win streak of 14 wins and his prediction to win his next fight. Although the video received a positive response from the MMA audience, Topuria was scrutinized for his fight prediction. But, it only reaffirmed the confidence that ‘El Matador’ had.

Ilia Topuria previously beat Josh Emmett in July 2023 and earned his top-five ranking. However, Alexander Volkanovski lost his previous fight against Islam Makhachev. However, that fight was in the lightweight division, and ‘The Great’ still sat on top of the featherweight division as a champion. Earlier, he defended his featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez in UFC 290. Now, Topuria and Volkanovski go into action in UFC 298 at Honda Center in Anaheim.

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