UFC 298 fighter nicknames: Meaning and significance behind monikers of Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria, Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker, and more

The highly-anticipated UFC 298 (Feb. 17, 2024) event will be headlined by reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The Australian combat sports great will look to defend his title against Spain's Ilia Topuria.

Meanwhile, the UFC 298 co-headlining bout would see former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker face Paulo Costa in a high-stakes matchup. The fight card features several other exciting bouts as well.

Not only does it boast multiple thrilling matchups, but it also has some of the biggest names in the sport today. Today, we take a closer look at the sobriquets of some of the top fighters set to compete at the event.

Perhaps the most prominent of the fighters is Alexander Volkanovski. He was previously known as 'The Hulk' but is better known by his current moniker, 'The Great'.

Alexander Volkanovski's nickname's meaning is traced to the fact that he's the son of a Macedonian father and a Greek mother. His nickname is inspired by Alexander 'The Great,' a legendary king who ruled the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.

Volkanovski's opponent, Topuria, is known as 'El Matador'. Ilia Topuria's nickname's meaning is bullfighter, as 'El Matador' is a Spanish term for the same.

Meanwhile, co-headliner Robert Whittaker is nicknamed 'The Reaper', another term for the 'Grim Reaper,' who's regarded as a personification of death. His opponent is none other than 'Borrachinha', Paulo Costa. 'Borrachinha's' means little rubber/eraser in Portuguese. He's alternatively referred to as 'The Eraser.'

Furthermore, the UFC 298 main card portion comprises three more bouts featuring fighters such as Geoff Neal, Ian Machado Garry, Merab Dvalishvili, Henry Cejudo, Anthony Hernandez, and Roman Kopylov. Neal's known as 'Handz of Steel', an ode to his fearsome punching power, whereas the young Garry is labeled 'The Future'.

The relentless Dvalishvili is nicknamed 'The Machine'. His opponent, Cejudo, was previously known as 'The Messenger'. However, Cejudo later started using the moniker 'Triple C', given that he's an Olympic gold medalist and former two-weight UFC champion. He also calls himself 'The King of Cringe,' an allusion to his eccentric public persona.

As for Hernandez, he's nicknamed 'Fluffy', a nickname given to him during his kickboxing days, as he was a tad overweight at the time. His opponent, Kopylov, generally doesn't use an epithet.

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UFC nicknames: A closer look at the monikers of the UFC 298 prelim fighters

The UFC 298 preliminary card consists of four bouts, featuring fighters such as Amanda Lemos, Mackenzie Dern, Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Justin Tafa, Rinya Nakamura, Carlos Vera, Zhang Mingyang, and Brendson Ribeiro.

While Amanda Lemos is fondly referred to as 'Amandinha', Dern usually doesn't use a nickname. Brazil's De Lima is nicknamed 'Pezao' (Portuguese for Bigfoot), Tafa is known as 'Bad Man', Nakamura is called 'Hybrid', and Vera goes by the moniker 'Pequeno' (meaning little/small).

China's Mingyang is known as 'Mountain Tiger' (a reference to the feared and revered tigers inhabiting the mountains of China), and Brazil's Brendson Ribeiro goes by the title 'The Gorilla'.

Moreover, the three bouts on the UFC 298 early preliminary card feature Josh Quinlan, Danny Barlow, Oban Elliott, Val Woodburn, Andrea Lee, and Miranda 'Fear The' Maverick.

Quinlan is known as 'The Renegade' (utilized more in the sense of a rebel rather than a traitor), whereas the southpaw Barlow uses the nickname 'Left Hand 2 God.' Oban Elliott is 'The Welsh Gangster', and Val Woodburn prefers being labeled 'The Animal'.

As for Texas' Andrea Lee, her coach gave her the epithet named after the erstwhile Soviet Union's intelligence agency, 'KGB', owing to her appearance is akin to a Russian person. In addition, her opponent, Miranda Maverick, assumed the moniker 'Fear The', to motivate herself to make her opponent fear her.