On Thanksgiving evening, UFC President Dana White took to Instagram to announce that Alexander Volkanovski’s next title defence will come at UFC 298 against Ilia Topuria.
Originally it was rumoured that the event would take place in Los Angeles, California, but White confirmed the fight will in fact take place in Anaheim at the Honda Center.
The two featherweights have been on a collision course for a while now, as Topuria has been making his way up the rankings. Having said that, throughout 2023, Topuria only competed once, and it was when he picked up a win over Josh Emmett back in June.
The Spaniard is still unbeaten throughout his career, whilst “The Great” Volkanovski will defend his 145lb strap for the sixth time.
The featherweight champion, Volkanovski, competed a total of three times throughout 2023, picking up just one win against Yair Rodriguez at International Fight Week.
The Australian’s last fight came back in October when he was knocked out by Islam Makhachev, with a large majority of fans believing the turnaround to be too soon. That knockout loss marked Volkanovski’s first since 2013, and only the second of his career.
UFC 298 will mark the 10th time the UFC has visited the city of Anaheim and the Honda Center.
