While it won’t come quite as early as he wanted, Alexander
Volkanovski will still get a relatively quick return to the
Octagon.
The reigning featherweight king will defend his belt against
Ilia
Topuria in the UFC 298 headliner, UFC CEO Dana White announced
on Monday. A date and venue for the event are currently unknown,
though the card will take place sometime in February.
Volkanovski is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Islam
Makhachev in his second bid to become a two-division champion
at UFC 294 this past October. The City Kickboxing accepted the bout
on short notice when Makhachev’s original foe, Charles
Oliveira, was unable to compete after suffering a cut in
training. An emotional Volkanovski requested a quick return in the
aftermath of the defeat, targeting UFC 297 in January. Instead, his
first 145-pound title defense since July — a third-round TKO of
Yair
Rodriguez at UFC 290 — will occur the following month.
Topuria, meanwhile, has been victorious in his first 14
professional outings — including six within the Las Vegas-based
promotion. “El Matador” was successful in his first headlining
endeavor at UFC on ABC 5, where he outpointed former interim title
challenger Josh Emmett
on June 24. The 26-year-old Spaniard has finished 12 of his 14
victories inside the distance.