Colby
Thicknesse, who trains with ex-featherweight champion Alexander
Volkanovski, has agreed to face Aleksandre
Topuria on short notice at UFC
312.
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Thicknesse is a replacement for Cody
Haddon, who withdrew from the bantamweight pairing due to
injury. The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed the change via
social media on Wednesday. The booking contains added intrigue
since Topuria is the older brother of current UFC 145-pound king
Ilia
Topuria, who knocked out Volkanovski to claim the featherweight
throne at UFC 298. Ilia Topuria and Volkanovski are rumored to be
scheduled for a rematch at UFC
314 in April.
“How good is this? I’m very excited for Colby,” Volkanovski said in
a video on the UFC’s Instagram. “There’s not a more deserving
person than Colby Thicknesse. He’s probably the hardest worker I
know on the planet. He’s got heart. He’s got the discipline. No
one’s more committed than this guy …. He’s been my main training
partner pretty much my whole career.”
Thicknesse, 25, has kicked off his professional tenure with seven
consecutive triumphs on the regional circuit. He’s finished his
last three opponents inside of a round. Volkanovski confirmed that
he will be in Thicknesse’s corner at UFC 312.
The 29-year-old Topuria will be competing for the first time since
May 2023, when he defeated Johan Segas
via first-round technical knockout at The Way of the Warrior 9 in
Madrid, Spain. “El Conquistador” has won five of his six
professional outings, with all of his victories coming inside the
distance. He began his professional MMA tenure in 2015 and fought
three times that year but did not return to action again until
December 2021.
UFC 312 takes place at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, on
Feb. 8 and is headlined by a middleweight championship rematch
between Dricus Du
Plessis and Sean
Strickland.