Ilia Topuria (14-0) and Alexander Volkanovski (26-3-0) will star in the main event of UFC 298, an event that will be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Los Angeles, and that will have the fight for the featherweight belt as the main protagonist. Everything is ready for a memorable battle inside the cage.
The Spanish-Georgian, third in the ranking, wants to become the first Spanish representative to win a belt from the UFC, the top promoter of mixed martial arts. Never before has anyone gone as far as Ilia, a 27-year-old fighter looking to dethrone the king. Volkanovski, ‘monarch’ of 145 pounds for almost five years, wants at 35 years of age to continue making his legend in the octagon. ‘The Great’, who is coming off a knockout of Makachev in a higher category last October, does not want to abdicate against Topuria.
“It’s going to be abysmal. I will make history for Spain, Georgia and for myself personally. If you work hard and have faith, anything is possible. How much history the human race has and no one has done it before. It’s going to be great,” the ‘Matador’ told the media present in Los Angeles a day before the fight.
When is the fight between Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski?
The UFC 298 evening will be held next Saturday, February 17 in the United States, specifically in Anaheim, LA. In Spain, the event will start in the early hours of Sunday at around 00:00 CET. The second round of preliminaries will start at 2:00 a.m. CET and at 4:00 a.m. CET the main portfolio will start, the most anticipated bouts by all fans that include ranked in different divisions and the main event for the title.
The fight between Ilia Topuria and Volkanovski is scheduled for approximately 6:00 – 6:15 CET, although the rest of the fights will end up setting the final time. Despite the fact that the title fight is the great attraction of the night, there are other more than interesting proposals to whet your appetite before seeing ‘El Matador’. The co-main event between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa or Geoff Neal vs Ian Machado Garry at welterweight, more than recommended appointments.
Where to watch the fight Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski?
Eurosport is the platform that offers the UFC live in Spain through its APP/player. In addition, the main events of this competition can be seen on the Eurosport 2 TV channel.
To watch the fight between Topuria and Volkanovski, you need to subscribe to the Eurosport app, which has a monthly cost of €6.99 and an annual cost of €39.99. The fight can only be seen through the Eurosport APP, not on the Eurosport 1 or Eurosport 2 channels that may be included on television operators.
Do I have to register with Eurosport?
Yes, you need to register on the Eurosport app before you can subscribe. If you haven’t registered, you won’t be able to watch the fight.
The UFC will have a full schedule of more than 40 events throughout the year, the dates of which will be confirmed as the season progresses. In addition, Eurosport also offers additional content such as analysis, debates or previews on all UFC events.
This was the ultimate face-to-face
‘The Great’ and ‘El Matador’ are now ready to step into the cage and put on one of the best shows of the year in the UFC. This was the final confrontation between Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski the night before the main event.
Let’s remember that Ilia has before him the opportunity to dethrone the 145-pound monarch. The Australian has never lost a featherweight bout and is aiming to continue his reign with a win in Anaheim. The Spanish-Georgian, for his part, wants to implant a new dynasty in the top MMA promoter.
Despite Ilia’s ‘darts’ to his rival on social networks, ‘El Matador’ has always shown a lot of respect for his career: “It’s difficult to fight someone like Volkanovski, who is such a good person (…) I respect him as a person, as a professional, but I’m fighting for my dreams and he’s in my way. In the end, we are human beings fighting to give a better life to our families,” he said after the last face-off.
Weighing, a formality
The two protagonists of the big fight met the scales on Friday and reached 144.5 pounds (about 65.5 kg) that allow them to move forward with the show.
Let’s remember that in UFC title fights the courtesy pound is not allowed, a measure that allows the fighter to weigh one pound more than what is allowed or agreed in the division. Neither Topuria nor Volkanovsky could avail themselves of that right. In any case, there was no problem at the weigh-in and everything is ready for a real battle in the octagon.
UFC 298 Main Card
Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria: UFC Featherweight Championship.
Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa: middleweight.
Geoff Neal vs Ian Machado Garry: Welterweight.
Merab Dvalishvili vs Henry Cejudo: bantamweight.
Anthony Hernandez vs Roman Kopylov: middleweight.
UFC 298 Preliminary Card
Amanda Lemos vs Mackenzie Dern: strawweight.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa: heavyweight.
Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera: Bantamweight.
AJ Dobson vs Tresean Gore: middleweight.
UFC 298 First Prelims Card
Zhang Mingyang vs Brendson Ribeiro: light heavyweight.
Josh Quinlan vs Danny Barlow: welterweight.
Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn: welterweight.
Andrea Lee vs Miranda Maverick: Flyweight.