"I have a feeling this won’t age well" - When Ilia Topuria changing his Instagram bio to 15-0 months before UFC 298 had fans doubting him

Fans were once skeptical of Ilia Topuria’s confidence before UFC 298.

On Saturday night, Topuria made history by securing a second–round knockout win against Alexander Volkanovski to become the UFC featherweight champion. The life-changing performance also extended the 27-year-old’s undefeated professional MMA record to 15-0, with seven fights in the Octagon.

Before defeating Volkanovski, Topuria received backlash from the MMA community for his unmatched confidence. ‘El Matador’ believed in himself to the point where his Instagram profile stated he was a UFC champion and 15-0 heading into UFC 298.

Two months ago, a Reddit post was made about Topuria’s Instagram bio, and fans took to the comment section to voice their doubt about the featherweight title challenger:

“I have a feeling this won’t age well”

“A lot of y’all doubting volk it’s ok just please keep the same energy. Islam is the pfp best in the game. Don’t think sh*t sweet cause the #1 pfp ko’d volk. My man still runs the FW division until further notice. “AND STILL” on February 😤”

“volk is going to win the only reason he lost his last fight was because islam is the goat rn”

“Going to be rough to change it if he loses”

“It's gonna backfire very badly if "The Great" wins…”

“This sub already doubting Volk YALL MUST’VE FORGOT. AND STILL”

Reddit comments

Watch Volkanovski knock out Topuria below:

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Ilia Topuria reveals he’s interested in fighting Alexander Volkanovski in an immediate rematch

Ilia Topuria previously claimed he’s not interested in giving most featherweight contenders a title shot. That said, the new 145-pound king wants to stay active, and he already has an opponent in mind for his first title defense.

During the UFC 298 post-fight press conference, Topuria had this to say about potentially facing Alexander Volkanovski in an immediate rematch:

"To be honest, at this point I'm like, 'Okay I'm going to give him the rematch because he's a good person.' But at the same time, it's time to move on. It's time to clean up the division a little bit. It's time for the new generation, to have new challenges, new faces. I will be looking for that."

It’s unclear who the UFC wants Ilia Topuria to fight next, but there’s a chance they aren’t interested in the Alexander Volkanovski rematch. Volkanovski has been knocked out twice in the past four months, so he will likely need time to recover.

Watch Topuria talk about a rematch with Volkanovski below: