ANAHEIM, Calif. – Alexander Volkanovski performed up his age this week, carrying garments befitting a grandpa, old-man glasses and pretending to go to sleep on the prefight information convention.
Volkanovski shouldn’t be really outdated. He is simply 35. However, technically, that’s a complicated age for a UFC featherweight champion. In truth, no male fighter at light-weight or beneath has ever received a title struggle after turning 35 years outdated.
That has been the largest storyline main into Volkanovski’s title protection towards Ilia Topuria in the principle occasion of UFC 298 on Saturday evening right here at Honda Heart. Topuria is simply 27 years outdated and considered one of MMA’s most enjoyable younger fighters. Can Volkanovski make historical past and show himself the exception to the 35-year-old rule? Or will he go the 145-pound torch to the well-rounded Topuria?
ESPN has Volkanovski ranked No. 3 on the earth on its pound-for-pound record. At featherweight, ESPN has Volkanovski No. 1 and Topuria at No. 5.
Volkanovski (26-3) has 5 profitable featherweight title defenses and 6 UFC featherweight title wins, the second most all-time. The Australian-born fighter is coming off a loss to UFC light-weight champion Islam Makhachev through knockout at UFC 294 in October. Volkanovski additionally misplaced to Makhachev in February 2023 through unanimous resolution, earlier than defending the featherweight belt over Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 final July.
Topuria (14-0) has received his first six UFC fights, 4 by end. The German-born fighter of Georgian descent lives and trains in Spain. Topuria is coming off a unanimous resolution win over Josh Emmett final June.
Within the co-main occasion at UFC 298, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will face former title challenger Paulo Costa. ESPN has Whittaker ranked No. 3 on the earth at middleweight.
Additionally on the cardboard, former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo will face up-and-coming Merab Dvalishvili, high welterweight prospect Ian Machado Garry meets Geoff Neal and Mackenzie Dern and Amanda Lemos face off in a girls’s strawweight contender bout.
UFC 298 struggle card
ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET
Males’s featherweight championship: Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Ilia Topuria
Middleweight: Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa
Welterweight: Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry
Males’s bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo
Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov
ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m.
Strawweight: Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern
Heavyweight: Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Justin Tafa
Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera
Gentle heavyweight: Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
ESPN+, 6:30 p.m.
Welterweight: Danny Barlow vs. Josh Quinlan
Welterweight: Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn
Girls’s flyweight: Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick
(c) = defending champion