To say that Ilia
Topuria is confident going into his first
Ultimate Fighting Championship title fight against reigning
champion Alexander
Volkanovski at
UFC 298 would be an understatement.
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“El Matador” has repeatedly claimed that Volkanovski will be one of
his easiest fights, updated his mixed martial arts record on his
social media to 15-0 and is shooting a movie that will document his
journey to claiming the UFC featherweight title.
Much has been made of the Spaniard’s exuberance going into his
first title shot, especially his belief that Volkanovski will be
one of his easier matchups inside the Octagon.
Responding to criticism from fans who believe Topuria may be taking
Volkanovski too lightly, the Spaniard recently offered some
reasoning behind his bold prediction in an interview with ESPN.
“[It will be one of my easier fights] at the moment he is right
now,” Topuria said. “Because he lost his last fight. He talked
about his mental problems. I feel like he is not at his 100% right
now. And me myself too, I feel I am way better than him anywhere,
so…”
Topuria’s assessment might have some merit considering
Volkanovski’s recent Round 1 knockout loss to lightweight king
Islam
Makhachev at
UFC 294 in October.
As for any “mental problems,” Volkanovski made it a point to assure
fans
that he’s in a good place mentally following his comments at
the UFC 294 post-fight press conference.
Meanwhile, Topuria is coming off a one-sided unanimous decision
victory against Josh Emmett
in June last year, is undefeated and is eight years younger than
“The Great.”
On top of all these advantages that he has going into his meeting
with Volkanovski, Topuria believes his calculated style will allow
him to walk out of the Octagon at UFC 298 with gold around his
waist.
“The strategy I bring to the fight, he won’t be able to solve it,”
Topuria said. “A lot of fighters are punching hard, grappling hard,
all that type of stuff, but no one has a strategy. No one comes in
with the strategy that I have. That’s what separates me from rest
of the fighters… I’m going to create opportunities. Of course,
I’m going to wait for the right moment to create those
opportunities, but I’m going to open spaces that I will be able to
take advantage of.”
UFC 298 is set to go down at the Honda Center in Anaheim,
California, on Saturday. Other matchups on the card include a
middleweight clash between former champion Robert
Whittaker and Paulo
Costa; a welterweight bout pitting Ian Garry
against Geoff Neal
and Henry
Cejudo vs. Merab Davilshvili at bantamweight.