It is a large evening of fights, UFC 298 has all of it, and this top-heavy card is anticipated to carry some fireworks.
Properly, it is super-confident elite competitor Ilia Topuria who brings the present. He knocked out 35-year-old Alexander Volkanovski within the second spherical to seize the UFC featherweight belt.
Fighters 35 and older are simply 1-22 in opposition to youthful fighters in UFC title fights in all weight lessons south of middleweight. Volkanovski began off robust, however at 3 minutes and 32 seconds into the second interval, his proper hand was grabbed by his opponent, inflicting the sport to finish.
Topriya stated earlier than the sport that he felt like a champion and appeared totally able to bettering his report to 15-0.
It was a second brutal knockout in a row for Volkanovski, calling into query what he might need left. Traditionally, light-weight boxers age shortly and lose their vitality seemingly in a single day.
Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is seeking to bounce again after struggling a disastrous defeat in opposition to Paulo Costa. What transpired was the second greatest combat of the evening. Whittaker had the perfect of the combat with crisp combos and highly effective leg kicks to defeat Costa by unanimous resolution.
Welterweight prospect Ian Machado Garry defeated veteran Geoff Neal to a flurry of upsets and boos from the group.
Former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo gave it his all however finally misplaced a unanimous resolution to Merab Dvalishvili, who had a cardio Motion and perseverance are onerous to beat.
Essential card (begin time 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV)
(All BetMGM traces)
• Featherweight Champion: Ilya Topriya defeated Alexander Volkanovski by KO at 3 minutes and 32 seconds of the second spherical
• Middleweight: Robert Whittaker defeated Paulo Costa by way of unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Welterweight: Ian Machado Garry defeated Jeff Neal by way of break up resolution (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
• Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili defeated Henry Cejudo by way of unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez defeats Roman Kopylov by way of rear-naked choke at 3:23 of spherical 2
Preliminaries (8 p.m. ET begin time, ESPN/ESPN+)
• Girls’s strawweight: Amanda Lemos defeated Mackenzie Dunn by unanimous resolution (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Heavyweight: Marcos Rogerio de Lima defeated Junior Tafa by TKO at 1 minute and 14 seconds of spherical 2
• Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura defeated Carlos Vera by unanimous resolution 30-27, 30-27, 30-27
• Mild heavyweight: At 1 minute and 41 seconds of the primary spherical, Zhang Mingyang defeated Brandson Ribeiro by KO.
Early Preliminaries (Kickoff 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
• Welterweight: Danny Barlow defeated Josh Quinlan by TKO at 1:18 of spherical 3
• Middleweight: Oban Elliott defeated Val Woodburn by way of unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Girls’s flyweight: Miranda Maverick defeated Andrea Lee by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
reside54 updates
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“He did a very good job. He caught me… He should not have landed like that, however he did.” – Alexander Volkanovski requires rematch with Topria in Spain. #UFC298
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 18, 2024
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10-9 Ilya
To this point, the primary spherical and an intense chess match are over.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 18, 2024
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Topriya tries to counter Walker’s left facet with leg kicks.
— Luke Thomas 🏋️♀️ (@lthomasnews) February 18, 2024
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Essential occasion time: Volkanovski vs Topriya. Must be enjoyable. Can Topuria make an enormous enchancment in opposition to Volk?we’re about to seek out out #UFC298
— Kevin Io (@KevinI) February 18, 2024
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Ilia Topuria Strolling out of the “Cancion del Mariachi” in Los Lobos by no means stops growing older. Max Guess Season.
— Joe Garza (@CasinoJoeYahoo) February 18, 2024
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19-19 after two o’clock. Whittaker appeared robust within the second spherical after struggling a extreme shock on the finish of the primary spherical. #UFC298
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 18, 2024
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Costa almost completed Whittaker with a spinning header within the ultimate 10 seconds of the primary interval.As much as that time, Rob had had an awesome sport
— Kevin Io (@KevinI) February 18, 2024