"I don't think grappling is going to come into this" - UFC commentator expects Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria to be striking heavy

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will defend his title against Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 298 this Saturday, Feb. 17.

According to former middleweight champion Michael Bisping, the bout is likely to be a striking-heavy affair. On his YouTube channel, 'The Count' broke down the fight and gave his thoughts on how it could play out:

"How does the fight go down? Topuria does have beautiful boxing. Excellent timing, technically perfect, rolls with the punches, nice footwork, good speed, excellent power. But if I’m being honest, I really believe that that is the only one that’s going to matter. I don’t think grappling is going to come into this too much. They’re both great grapplers, there’s no question about that. Volk went five rounds with Islam Makhachev on a full camp [UFC 284], don’t start on the last one [UFC 294]."

Bisping further explained how both fighters are evenly matched on the ground, saying:

"When he had a full camp, he went five rounds and he wasn’t exposed or damaged or hurt. If he can stop the takedowns of one Islam Makhachev, I would assume he can stop the takedowns of Ilia Topuria. On the flip side, Topuria, I mean, he was able to take down Bryce Mitchell and submit him as well. So I think Topuria has probably got a good shot of defending the takedowns of Alexander Volkanovski."

Check out Michael Bisping's full comments below (2:05):

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Alexander Volkanovski has not given up on his lightweight title aspirations

Alexander Volkanovski has had two shots at the lightweight title, and fallen short both times against the same opponent - reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Both fights took place last year, and although their first encounter was a close contest, Makhachev was decisive in the second matchup.

In an interview with ESPN MMA, 'The Great' mentioned that he will take on the challenge again in the future when the timing is appropriate.

He said:

"So let's do this featherweight thing and maybe later, we can move up. I definitely still want to chase that lightweight division, it just needs to make sense and the timing needs to work."

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's full comments below (2:06):