Ilia
Topuria believes he’ll dominate Alexander Volkanovksi in their
upcoming featherweight title fight.
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Topuria released a theatrical trailer predicting victory right
after his booking against Volkanovksi was announced for
UFC 298 on Feb. 17. While “El Matador” has been on a collision
course with Volkanovski for a while now, the matchup was slightly
delayed when “The Great” stepped in a for a short notice rematch
against lightweight champ Islam
Makhachev at UFC 294 this past October.
Volkanovski went on to suffer a head kick knockout in the first
round and later attributed the loss to accepting the fight on short
notice. The featherweight champ believes people have somewhat
forgotten who he really is due to the manner of his last loss, but
he has vowed to give Topuria a
a lesson in humility in their fight.
Meanwhile, Topuria’s confidence is on a whole new level. While “El
Matador” doesn’t exactly see any holes in Volkanovski’s game, he
believes he has an answer for anything “The Great” has to
offer.
“He doesn’t stand a chance,” Topuria told ESPN
Deportes. “He has zero opportunity. I don’t see any holes, but
I can tell how he attacks. The only attack I see is that he is
going to kick my legs. That’s the only thing that he can do…He has
good cardio, but everyone has good cardio when they’re not under
pressure. When you’re walking forward, you’ll have good cardio. But
when you’re in trouble, cardio tends to fade away, and this will be
the case. He will have someone in front of him that never goes
back.”
The undefeated contender expects Volkanovski to be among the easier
opponents of his career.
“I think it’s going to be perfect,” he said. “It’s going to be a
masterpiece, to hit and don’t get hit. That’s what you will see in
this combat. You’ll see an authentic mixed martial artist…I don’t
have any doubt that the finish will come, and it will be one of the
easier fights of my career so far.”