Alexander Volkanovski's next defense of his UFC featherweight championship is likely to be against Ilia Topuria.
After successfully defending his belt against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 with a third-round TKO victory, Volkanovski expressed his desire to face either Islam Makhachev in a rematch or Ilia Topuria. With Makhachev now set to defend his lightweight belt in October against Charles Oliveira, a potential matchup with Topuria seems plausible.
Alexander Volkanovski will most likely defend his UFC featherweight championship against Ilia Topuria next. Speaking about the same, Francis Marshall has given his take.
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Volkanovski was last seen in action against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290. On the night, the UFC featherweight champion successfully defended his belt against the Mexican and beat him via third-round TKO.
Following the bout, Alexander Volkanovski made it known that he would like to fight either Islam Makhachev in a rematch or Ilia Topuria. It is worth noting that Makhachev is now set to defend his lightweight belt in October against Charles Oliveira which leaves Volkanovski with a potential matchup against Topuria.
Speaking of the same, UFC featherweight prospect Francis Marshall has given his prediction. During a recent exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Marshall said:
"I think Ilia matches up pretty well with Volkanovski. He's a big pressure fighter as well he kind of keeps coming forward but at the end of the day, Volkanovski just has everyone's number in the division right now. But you never know, Ilia might come out and surprise him, he hits hard, has good striking, good cardio, so I think that could be a very good well-matched fight."
Catch Francis Marshall's comments in the video below:
Ilia Topuria claims it will be an "easy" fight against Alexander Volkanovski
Ilia Topuria was seemingly unimpressed with Alexander Volkanovski's performance against Yair Rodriguez. During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Topuria downplayed the UFC featherweight champion's performance and termed it as "nothing special". He said:
“Nothing special, He did what he was supposed to do. He did a good job in the fight. He took him down, ground and pound. ... I wasn’t impressed at all. I saw what I was supposed to see – you know, beat [Rodriguez], because I never liked Yair’s fight style.”
While further speaking about how a potential fight against Alexander Volkanovski would be easy for him, Ilia Topuria said:
“For me, it’s going to be an easy fight [with Volkanovski]. ... Every time I move up in the rankings, every fight is going to be more easy for me. And why? Because it’s more easy to have a game plan against guys who are more technical than fight with someone who’s unpredictable.”
Check out Topuria's comments below from 0:20 onwards:
