On extremely short notice, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship has pulled off the ‚ol
switcheroo.
Headlining the 12-fight
UFC 298 event is a featherweight title tilt between champion
Alexander
Volkanovski and challenger Ilia
Topuria. Both men successfully made weight for the fight, as
did the remainder of the lineup. While one fight was nixed before
the weigh-ins when Justin Tafa
suffered an injury, Tafa’s brother, Junior
Tafa (249), was cleared to replace him against Marcos
Rogerio de Lima (261.5).
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Volkanovski (26-3) is looking to make his sixth successful title
defense. However, „The Great“ has lost two of his last three fights
as he fell short against Islam
Makhachev in two bids to win the lightweight championship. The
35-year-old is coming off his first knockout defeat since 2013 and
will look to show he still has plenty left in the tank. Volkanovski
officially weighed 144.5 pounds.
Meanwhile, the undefeated Topuria (14-0) is riding an impressive
six-fight win streak inside the Octagon. „El Matador“ most recently
defeated Josh Emmett
by decision and submitted Bryce
Mitchell with an arm-triangle choke. The Spanish by way of
Georgia fighter stepped on the scale at 144.5 pounds.
UFC 298’s main card will air live on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at
10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday. Prelims begin at 6:30 p.m.
ET/3:30 p.m. PT on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass before moving to ESPN
and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
UFC 298 Weigh-in Results:
Alexander
Volkanovski (144.5) vs. Ilia
Topuria (144.5)
Robert
Whittaker (185.5) vs. Paulo Costa
(185.5)
Geoff
Neal (170.5) vs. Ian Garry
(170.5)
Merab
Dvalishvili (135) vs. Henry
Cejudo (135)
Anthony
Hernandez (185.5) vs. Roman
Kopylov (185)
Amanda
Lemos (115.5) vs. Mackenzie
Dern (116)
Marcos
Rogerio de Lima (261.5) vs. Junior
Tafa (249)
Rinya
Nakamura (135.5) vs. Carlos Vera
(135.5)
Mingyang
Zhang (204.5) vs. Brendson
Ribeiro (205.5)
Josh
Quinlan (169) vs. Danny
Barlow (171)
Oban
Elliott (170.5) vs. Valentine
Woodburn (169.5)
Andrea
Lee (125.5) vs. Miranda
Maverick (126)