UFC 298 LIVE: Volkanovski vs Topuria fight updates and results tonight

Re-live updates as Alexander Volkanovski defended his featherweight title against Ilia Topuria

'I'm literally done': Dana White storms off podcast in first minute leaving host stunned

Ilia Topuria dethroned featherweight great Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 on Saturday, knocking the Australian out cold in round two.

Volkanovski’s reign at 145lbs has been a storied one, and the 35-year-old was seeking a sixth straight successful title defence as he fought Topuria in Anaheim.

The champion started well, but Topuria’s knockout threat was a key narrative in the build-up to this main event, and the Georgian-Spaniard delivered on that threat.

Midway through the second round, Topuria, 27, landed a picture-perfect fight hook with Volkanovski against the cage, and the Australian collapsed to the canvas at once. With that, Volkanovski’s four-year title reign came to an end, as the unbeaten Topuria became the first UFC champion to represent Georgia or Spain.

Re-live updates and results from the UFC 298 main card and prelims, below.

UFC 298 LIVE

• Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to take featherweight title
• Topuria, 27, scored finish with perfect right hook against Volkanovski, 35, in round two
• Robert Whittaker outpointed Paulo Costa in enthralling co-main event
• Controversial Irishman Ian Machado Garry beat Geoff Neal via decision
• Merab Dvalishvili ground down ex-champion Henry Cejudo in bantamweight bout

[18 February 2024 00:21 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 298 LIVE: Volkanovski’s bravest move ever? Talking about his mental health

Here’s a piece from the fallout of Volkanovski’s loss to Islam Makhachev in October, when the Australian bravely discussed his mental health and how it had affected his in-ring activity:

[18 February 2024 00:10 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 298 LIVE: Volkanovski vs Topuria betting tips

Check out The Independent’s betting tips for UFC 298 tonight:

[18 February 2024 00:00 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 298 LIVE: Volkanovski reacts as Topuria changes social-media bio to ‘champion’ before fight

Alexander Volkanovski has said it will be a ‘humbling experience’ for Ilia Topuria to update his social-media bio after their main event at UFC 298 tonight.

While Volkanovski has forged an impressive reign at 145lbs, the Australian faltered twice in 2023, losing to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev on points in February and via knockout in October.

Those results have fed Topuria’s already-supreme confidence, which has led the Georgian-Spaniard to update his Instagram and X bios to read: “UFC World Champion. Undefeated 15-0.” Topuria, 27, is in fact 14-0 with 12 stoppage wins.

Here’s what Volkanovski had to say about that:

[17 February 2024 23:26 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 298 LIVE: Volkanovski vs Topuria

Here is tonight’s card in full, subject to any last-minute changes:

Main card

Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Ilia Topuria (featherweight title)

Robert Whittaker vs Paul Costa (middleweight)

Geoff Neal vs Ian Machado Garry (welterweight)

Merab Dvalishvili vs Henry Cejudo (bantamweight)

Anthony Hernandez vs Roman Kopylov (middleweight)

Prelims

Amanda Lemos vs Mackenzie Dern (women’s strawweight)

Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs Junior Tafa (heavyweight)

Rinya Nakamura vs Carlos Vera (bantamweight)

Zhang Mingyang vs Brendson Ribeiro (light-heavyweight)

Early prelims

Yusaku Kinoshita vs Danny Barlow (welterweight)

Oban Elliot vs Val Woodburn (welterweight)

Andrea Lee vs Miranda Maverick (women’s flyweight)

[17 February 2024 14:40 · Alex Pattle]

UFC 298 LIVE: Volkanovski vs Topuria

In the main event of UFC 298 tonight, Alexander Volkanovski will defend his featherweight title against Ilia Topuria.

Volkanovski has been dominant at 145lbs and is seeking his sixth successful title defence, having stopped Yair Rodriguez in July, but that victory was sandwiched between two defeats at lightweight. In February, the Australian was outpointed by 155lbs champion Islam Makhachev, who knocked out Volkanovski in their October rematch.

That brutal result, which came after Volkanovski stepped in on short notice, has some fans fearing for the 35-year-old as he fights a younger, powerful and well-rounded challenger tonight. The unbeaten Topuria, 27, has 12 finishes from 14 wins, and the Georgian – who fights out of Spain – enters UFC 298 on the back of a dominant decision against Josh Emmett in June.

In the co-main event, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker faces ex-title challenger Paulo Costa. Whittaker is out to bounce back from July’s shock TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis, who has since won the belt, while Costa last fought 18 months ago, outpointing former champion Luke Rockhold in a scrappy affair.