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For more than four years, Alexander Volkanovski ruled the featherweight division with precise gameplans and near-perfect execution. But that was no match for the oncoming challenge of Ilia Topuria. The Spaniard ended Volkanovski long title reign with a single punch in the main event of UFC 298 on Saturday night. Topuria staked his claim to the featherweight title with a second-round knockout inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Volkanovski opened the fight using lateral movement around the outside of the cage, throwing a variety of kicks at every part of Topuria's body. When this kept Topuria from finding success with early punches, the challenger switched to some heavy kicks of his own to Volkanovski's legs. While Topuria landed a few good punches to go with the leg kicks, it was Volkanovski who largely controlled the opening frame through movement and an unpredictable attack that saw his strikes moving up and down Topuria's body.
The fight became a competition between Volkanovski's movement and steady output of shots that touched Topuria and Topuria's attempts to close distance and connect with meaningful power.
As Volkanovski's jabs opened a cut on the bridge of Topuria's nose, the challenger finally struck with the shot he'd been waiting for.
With Volkanovski moving backward, he found his back against the cage and Topuria unloaded with a flurry of punches, eventually connecting with an overhand right that sent Volkanovski crumbling to the canvas. A few perfunctory shots from Topuria on the ground landed to an unconscious Volkanovski before the fight was stopped and a new featherweight champion was crowned.
The finish came at the 3:32 mark of Round 2.
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"I feel so happy," Topuria said after the fight. "I feel so happy right now. They're going to tell you you can't do it and knock you down. But the only person you need in this life is yourself. Trust yourself. Look at me. Look at me now. ... I just know my skills. I worked so hard for this. I was always knowing one day I would become a UFC champion. It doesn't matter where you come from if you know where you're going. It's more important what's in front of you than what's behind you."
The brash Topuria wasn't willing to let his moment go without calling out the biggest star in the UFC to meet him in the Octagon in Spain.
"Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls," Topuria said. "I will be waiting for you in Spain."
With the loss, Volkanovski drops to 1-3 in his four most recent fights. Two of those losses came in bids to capture the lightweight championship from Islam Makhachev. The second of those losses to Makhachev came in October when Volkanovski was knocked out by a head kick and punches.
After years spent at the top of the sport's pound-for-pound lists, and having successfully defended the featherweight title five times, Volkanovski has now suffered back-to-back brutal knockouts and lost the championship he held since December 2019.
The proud now-former champion did not have retirement on his mind after being caught by Topuria, instead immediately turning his eyes to a potential rematch.
"Well done to him. He caught me," Volkanovski said. "I was going to start working everything and he got me. Credit to him. Obviously, he's a hard hitter. We knew that coming in. He wasn't meant to land like that, but he did. 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."
Elsewhere on the card, Robert Whittaker returned to form with a decision win over Paulo Costa in the co-main event. Whittaker, who was knocked out by new titleholder Dricus du Plessis last July, needed a win in a big way to stay relevant in the title conversation. Costa, in his first fight since August 2022, goes back to the drawing board after suffering his third loss in his last four fights. Plus, Merab Dvalishvili made himself an undeniable challenger to the bantamweight crown with another incredible performance, this time outpointing former champion Henry Cejudo over three rounds.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 298 below.
UFC 298 card, results
- Ilia Topuria def. Alexander Volkanovski (c) via second-round knockout (punch)
- Robert Whittaker def. Paulo Costa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Ian Machado Garry def. Geoff Neal via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Anthony Hernandez def. Roman Kopylov via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Amanda Lemos def. Mackenzie Dern via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Junior Tafa via second-round TKO (kicks, punches)
- Rinya Nakamura def. Carlos Vera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Zhang Mingyang def. Brendson Ribiero via first-round TKO (punches)
- Danny Barlow def. Josh Quinlan via third-round TKO (punches)
- Oban Elliott def. Val Woodburn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Miranda Maverick def. Andrea Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
