"He really knows how that feels"- Ilia Topuria weighs in on Alexander Volkanovski's KO loss to Islam Makhachev and its influence on upcoming fight

Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria will square off for the former's featherweight crown at UFC 298. While the matchup was originally planned to headline UFC 297, a devastating knockout loss that Volkanovski suffered at the hands of Islam Makhachev has led to a change of plans.

Topuria, the latest challenger to Volkanovski's claim to divisional supremacy, believes that he is best equipped to beat Volkanovski than him, especially with the latter coming off a recent knockout, which Topuria believes will give him an advantage. However, he also expressed confidence due to his unbeaten status.

Unlike Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria is undefeated, which he touched on (at 48:50 minutes) during an interview with Kanpai Media:

"He has really nothing to lose, he already lost. He already knows how that feels, I don't know how that feels and I better never taste how that's going to feel."

Catch his comments below:

Conversely, Volkanovski hopes to humble his unbeaten challenger by defending his featherweight title to remind all 145-pounders that he is the division's best fighter and will remain so for some time. The pair had a widely publicized cage-side face-off after the Australian's UFC 290 win over Yair Rodriguez.

According to Volkanovski, he had expected Topuria to be taller. Due to his own height, the Australian phenom is often the diminutive fighter inside the octagon. So his bout with Topuria will be the first time he has faced someone of a similar physical stature since his fight against Chad Mendes back in 2018, which he won.

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Alexander Volkanovski's title defenses

Fans are well aware of the fact that Alexander Volkanovski has fought Max Holloway three times. He defeated the Hawaiian to first capture the UFC featherweight title, then twice more in future defenses of his divisional crown. But what of his other title defenses? Who else did he face?

Besides 'Blessed', he has beaten Brian Ortega, Jung Chan-sung, and Yair Rodriguez. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to fight as many fresh faces as he'd have liked, given Max Holloway's presence in the division means everyone else loses to the Hawaiian before they can earn a crack at Volkanovski.