Ilia Topuria Defeats Alexander Volkanovski via TKO to Win UFC Featherweight Title

UFC 298 brought a major shakeup to the UFC's featherweight division. Ilia Topuria ended Alexander Volkanovski's four-year reign over the 145-pound division with a second-round knockout win in the main event from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

El Matador found a way to win the belt with a massive right hook that floored Volkanovski and kicked off a new era in the 145-pound division.

As one would expect from two high-level strikers, the first round started with neither fighter really taking over the bout early. Both loaded information on their opponent and beat up the lead leg of their opponent.

Whatever information Topuria downloaded he was able to use to devastating effect in the second round. In one combination, Topuria took down one of the greatest featherweights of all time and became the new champion.

The decisive win wasn't a surprise to Topuria he predicted his big moment and came through in a big way.

Topuria's entire rise to champion took place while Volkanovski held the belt. When Volkanovski initially beat Max Holloway in December 2019 to become champion, Topuria wasn't even in the organization.

Since then, the Spanish fighter has only needed seven fights to capture UFC gold.

Topuria has had no shortage of confidence in his rise to become champ. He recently told Michael Bisping of his plans to give current bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley a crack at the title, but not before he sees "Suga" handle some business in his own weight class.

"Here's the thing, I'm gonna beat a guy who beat everyone in my division," Topuria said (h/t MMA News). "So I don't gonna have to prove much more in my division because I'm going to beat such a great champion who dominate the whole division. But he [O'Malley] has to prove a little bit more in his division. He got 'Chito', he got Merab, if he gets both of them done, then we can do it."

The one thing Topuria might be overlooking is that most champions with Volkanovski's track record are usually granted immediate rematches.

Perhaps Volkanovski will not be interested in doing that. The cut down to 145 pounds gets more challenging as he continues to age and he's had two fights at lightweight now.

But there's a good chance Topuria is going to have to confirm himself as the true king at 145 pounds by beating Volkanovski again.