Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria Booked to headline UFC 298

Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria Booked to headline UFC 298

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is returning to his natural weight class to defend his title against Ilia Topuria. UFC CEO Dana White announced the news on Twitter Monday.

BREAKING…… pic.twitter.com/eW9Q23FVmI

— danawhite (@danawhite) November 6, 2023

The date and location for UFC 298 has not been made official. In his announcement, White stated the bout would take place in Feb. 2024; however, a specific day was not specified. As for location, nothing has been confirmed, but Topuria posted a video to his social media accounts that teased it would take place in Los Angeles, Calif.

In 2023, Volkanovski only defended his featherweight title once while moving up to challenge for the lightweight title on two occasions. After failing to conquer the higher weight class, he returns to the division he has ruled since winning the title in 2019.

Volkanovski has cemented his legacy as the best featherweight of all time with five title defenses and an unreal resume. A title defense against Topuria will place Volkanovski in an elite company as only seven fighters have defended their title seven times in a singular reign.

Alexander Volkanovski: Fighting at UFC 294 May Have Been ‘Silly’

As for Topuria, he has reached the title picture at just 26-years-old. That is incredibly rare. More importantly, he has earned the opportunity. At 14-0 in his career, Topuria has proven to be an elite featherweight and UFC 298 will determine if he is one of the best fighters alive.

At the moment, the featherweight title fight is the only fight that has been confirmed for UFC 298.

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