Ilia Topuria grew to become the brand new featherweight champion after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in the primary occasion of UFC 298 at Honda Middle in California.
Months after Topriya boldly proclaimed himself a UFC world champion on his social media profile, he truly grew to become the primary Georgian to win the title.
When Topriya lastly put the belt round his waist at UFC 298 on Saturday evening, he cried on the feeling of a dream come true.
The Spaniard knocked out Volkanovski within the second spherical to seize the featherweight title, ending the Australian champion’s four-year reign with a collection of devastating blows.
Topriya (15-0) managed the primary spherical of his first UFC title battle with sharp punches, then sensationally defeated Volkanovski with extra of the identical.
He pushed the 35-year-old Volkanovski in opposition to the cage with left-right combos, then put him on the canvas with good proper arms and left arms. Topriya received the title on the bottom with lower than 90 seconds left within the battle, enhancing to 7-0 since becoming a member of the UFC in late 2020.
“I really feel very comfortable now,” Topriya mentioned after the sport, with the joint flags of Georgia and Spain slung over his shoulders.
“They will let you know you possibly can’t do it. They will knock you down and doubt you. However guess what? The one individual you want assist on this life is your self. Simply imagine in your self, work tirelessly, have faith, every little thing It is all doable. Now take a look at me.”
Topriya completely captured a second that had been a number of years within the making. He received six consecutive UFC titles in lower than three years and defeated Josh Emmett final summer season to rise to the highest of Volkanovski’s listing of contenders for the belt .
Volkanovski (26-4) has efficiently defended the belt 5 occasions in a row since successful it in late 2019, however his reign ended together with his first featherweight loss within the UFC.
The Australian has additionally did not develop into a two-division champion with two losses to light-weight champion Islam Makhachev previously 12 months, and he was preventing Topri earlier than the battle got here to an abrupt finish Ya’s recreation additionally did not present his regular relentless effort.
Topriya didn’t lack for confidence as she pushed for this recreation. He repeatedly spoke of Volkanovski’s dominance previously tense, even taking the belt off the desk in entrance of Volkanovski throughout Thursday’s press convention.
UFC President Dana White hopes to make his UFC debut at his subsequent battle in Topria, Spain. White was happy with Topria’s confidence in claiming the title earlier than even successful the belt.
“He positively believed in himself. It positively confirmed up. You might name it a variety of issues. Efficiency. Cockiness. He got here out tonight and made it occur,” White mentioned.
Volkanovski confirmed as much as the press convention dressed like an outdated man, quipping that he was too outdated to compete with the 27-year-old Topriya. Volkanovski even acquired assist from billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, who walked out with the champion and wore his cornerback gear in front-row seats on the sold-out Honda Middle.
Once they had been lastly put within the cage, Topria adopted by on his each phrase and motion – a lot to the delight of each his house nations.
“Immediately is a historic second for Georgia,” mentioned Georgia bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili, who earlier defeated Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 . “Everybody was up early. Each restaurant was booked. They had been on the stadium watching the sport. They’re celebrating the entire evening now.”
Within the penultimate battle of the evening in Southern California, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker defeated Paulo Costa through unanimous choice.
Final summer season, Whittaker (25-7) bounced again from a loss to future middleweight champion Dericus de Plessis with a comeback victory over Costa (14-3), who Knocked out Whittaker with a pleasant spinning head kick within the ultimate seconds of spherical one.
Whittaker’s face was bloodied, however he largely managed the scenario on his toes over the subsequent two rounds, whereas Costa’s leg was clearly injured.
Earlier, former UFC two-division champion Cejudo misplaced to Dvalishvili by a unanimous vote of 0-2 in his comeback. Cejudo has beforehand acknowledged that if he loses this battle, he’ll retire once more.
Cejudo is a former U.S. Olympic wrestling gold medalist and UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion. His retirement in 2020 on the peak of MMA is curious. The 37-year-old started his comeback final Might with a loss to Aljamain Sterling.
Cejudo was led throughout the cage in a clumsy second throughout his battle in opposition to Dvalishvili, who trains on Lengthy Island. Dvalishvili received his tenth consecutive battle and his ninth win within the bantamweight division.
Chinese language gentle heavyweight Zhang Mingyang scored the spotlight of the undercard in his UFC debut with a surprising mixture victory over Brenderson Ribeiro.