"The lights went out in Australia" - Ilia Topuria recalls firing verbal warning shots at Alexander Volkanovski during UFC 298 title fight
Ilia Topuria recently opened up about his title fight against Alexander Volkanovski. Topuria pulled off a stunning upset at UFC 298 by decisively knocking out Volkanovski in the second round to become the new UFC featherweight champion.
In a recent interview with El Hormiguero, Topuria talked about his recent title fight and disclosed what he told Volkanovski prior to knocking him out at UFC 298. 'El Matador' said:
''In this fight, precisely, we did talk a little because when he connected me, he celebrated it and in the video, I don't know if it will be able to be seen later, I told him my turn is coming. My moment is going to come soon and I repeated to him twice and when it arrived, the lights went out in Australia.''
Watch the clip below:
Topuria is on top of the world at the moment and is looking to secure a high-profile matchup for his next outing.
In a recent interview with Eurosport (Espanol), he revealed his plans for future bouts, including fights against Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, and Sean O'Malley, before focusing on Islam Makhachev to claim the UFC's pound-for-pound title. He said:
"The three rivals that I would most like in the next fight are Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, or Sean O'Malley. I want to fight again before the end of the year, and then the next target would be Islam Makhachev. That fight would be the one that would bring me closest to number one in the pound-for-pound ranking.''
Movsar Evloev slams Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria became the UFC featherweight champion by defeating former titleholder Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. Since winning the title, Topuria has expressed an interest in facing high-profile opponents from other divisions, which did not sit well with Movsar Evloev.
The unbeaten UFC featherweight contender recently criticized Topuria for challenging opponents from other divisions while refusing to face him. In response to a fan post on X, Evloev wrote:
“Conor, Islam, Khabib, Mayweather, Muhammad Ali, Messi… Who else do you want to fight rather than the only undefeated fighter in your division? @Topuriailia.”
During the UFC 298 post-fight press conference, Topuria denied fighting Evloev in the near future because of his lack of finishing ability.