Alexander Volkanovski shares his first statement after KO loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298

Alexander Volkanovski suffered his first defeat as a featherweight against Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 298.

The pair faced off in arguably the most anticipated featherweight title fight since Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 194, and both men were full of confidence heading into the bout.

After winning the first round on all three judges' scorecards, 'The Great' was caught near the fence, where Topuria was able to land a flush right hand that put the Australian out cold.

Volkanovski appeared in front of the media at the post-event press conference. He appeared to be in good spirits, a stark contrast to his press conference following his KO defeat to Islam Makhachev last year.

The former champion was asked about the difference in feelings between his loss to Makhachev and his loss to Topuria. Volkanovski said:

"[The KO loss to Makhachev] was totally different. This one, I was in high spirits the whole way, I still am in high spirits. He caught me. That's that. I felt good in there, I felt like I was seeing everything early. But he ended up catching me. I was pretty comfortable in the first round, and we were like, 'Alright, we'll start to do more [in the fight].' I was just about to do more, and then he caught me. That's just the game."

Watch Alexander Volkanovski's statement below from 0:10:

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Alexander Volkanovski calls for a rematch with Ilia Topuria in Spain

Ilia Topuria dethroned Alexander Volkanovski with a stellar performance at UFC 298 to become only the fifth featherweight champion in the promotion's history.

Prior to the fight, 'El Matador' stated that he wanted to defend the title in Spain should he win. UFC CEO Dana White appeared open to the idea following the event, and now 'The Great' has too called for a rematch with Topuria in Spain.

During his octagon interview with Joe Rogan following his defeat, the Australian said this:

"Obviously he's a hard-hitter, we knew that going in. He wasn't meant to land like that but he did. Credit to him. I've been the champion of this featherweight division for a long time, he keeps mentioning Spain. Maybe we do a rematch over there in Spain."

Watch Alexander Volkanovski's interview below: