UFC CEO Dana White made the announcement on Instagram on Thursday for UFC 298. Alexander Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will try to win his sixth title defense when he faces unbeaten Ilia Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on February 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
There is a date and venue for UFC 298‘s featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski’s championship matchup with Ilia Topuria.
What Next In UFC For Alexander Volkanovski?
Volkanovski, who lost to lightweight title Islam Makhachev twice at UFC 294; will make a comeback to featherweight. In their first fight at UFC 284, Volkanovski drove Makhachev to the limit with a full training camp; nevertheless, he entered for a second chance in Abu Dhabi last month with less than two weeks’ notice. In the rematch, Volkanovski was eliminated in the first round.
At UFC 290 this past July, Volkanovski retained his 145-pound championship via third-round TKO over Yair Rodriguez, in between his lightweight title fights against Makhachev.
When Topuria joined the UFC in 2020, he appeared to be quite dominant. The fighter from Georgia outclassed Josh Emmett in the main event of the UFC on ABC 5 to secure his third consecutive bonus after winning four straight decisions over Damon Jackson, Ryan Hall, Jai Herbert, and Bryce Mitchell.
No fighters from California has been confirmed to appear on the card as of November 2023. Outside of the main event, just a small number of fights on the bill have been officially announced.
However, the state hasn’t had a significant UFC star since Urijah Faber left. The next pay-per-view event, UFC 299, features Marlon Vera and Sean O’Malley, who are perhaps the biggest stars in mixed martial arts coming out of California. Vera, while being born in Ecuador, trains under Jason Parillo at the RVCA Training Center, which is located in Costa Mesa.
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Chinese prospect Zhang Mingyang will make his much anticipated professional debut on the undercard of UFC 298 against Brendon Ribeiro, the winner of the DWCS contract. Additionally making a comeback is top-15 heavyweight Marcos Rogerio de Lima, who will take against Australian knockout fighter Justin Tafa.
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