The curse continues.
No male fighter at lightweight or below has ever won or defended a title fighter after turning 35 years old and now Alexander Volkanovski – for the second time – has joined that list.
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Volkanovski v Topuria: Fight Highlights | 03:41
Having previously being knocked out by Islam Makhachev in his first fight since his 35th birthday, Volkanovski suffered a second-straight defeat in the UFC 298 main event to bring an end to his reign at the top of the featherweight division.
Ilia Topuria’s time has come, with the Spaniard capturing his first title and improving his unblemished MMA record to 15-0 with a stunning second-round knockout victory.
Volkanovski had branded Topuria a “Conor McGregor wannabe” after the official press conference earlier in the week.
Topuria had certainly talked the talk. It was confidence bordering on cockiness for the challenger, who went as far as to update his Instagram bio to “UFC World Champion” and “Undefeated 15-0”.
Some saw it as delusion. Instead, it’s just the reality.
Topuria talks KO: ‘That was a cold one!’ | 02:13
Volkanovski was kicking off the lead leg early in the first round while a patient Topuria waited for his moment to explode and deliver on the knockout he promised.
Topuria did get through with a heavy low kick that had Volkanovski briefly hurt and then stung the Australian with a right hand.
It was a closely-fought opening round, with Volkanovski having the better striking moments of the two in the final minute after Topuria forced him to adjust as he chipped away with low kicks earlier in the round.
Topuria opened the second round with a right hand and then left hook that had Volkanovski backing up to the fence, with the challenger briefly working to the body before the champion moved away.
But then later in the round Topuria, who had promised all week that he had power that Volkanovski couldn’t handle, rocked the Australian with a right hook to deliver the finish.
“Oh my goodness that power. He’s still down cold,” Joe Rogan said in commentary.
“That was so shocking.”
“The new era begins,” added Michael Bisping.
‘Take time off’: Rogan’s warning to Volk | 01:02
FULL CARD RESULTS
MAIN CARD (from 2pm AEDT)
Alexander Volkanovski def. by Ilia Topuria via KO in Round 1 – featherweight
Robert Whittaker def. Paulo Costa – middleweight
Geoff Neal def by. Ian Garry via SD (30-27 x 2, 28-29)
Merab Dvalishvili def. Henry Cejudo via UD (29-28 x 3) – bantamweight
Anthony Hernandez def. Roman Kopylov via submission (RNC) in Round 2 – middleweight
PRELIMS (UFC Fightpass, from 12pm AEDT)
Amanda Lemos def. Mackenzie Dern via UD (29-28 x 3) – w. strawweight
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Junior Tafa via TKO in Round 2 (7-3-0) heavyweight
Rinya Nakamura def. Carlos Vera via UD (30-27 x 3) – bantamweight
Zhang Mingyang def. Brendson Ribeiro via TKO in Round 1 – light heavyweight
EARLY PRELIMS (UFC Fightpass, from 10am)
Josh Quinlan def by Danny Barlow via TKO in Round 3
Oban Elliott def Val Woodburn via UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Andrea Lee def by Miranda Maverick via UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
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WHITTAKER DECLARES HE IS ‘NOT GOING ANYWHERE’ AFTER WIN
Australian middleweight contender Robert Whittaker outlasted Paulo Costa in a three-round war, taking a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x 2, 30-27) to rebound from his knockout loss to Dricus du Plessis.
Whittaker, who had for so long dominated anyone not named Israel Adesanya in the division, found himself at somewhat of a career crossroads on Sunday after his last defeat to du Plessis.
While that loss in reality aged quite well given du Plessis went on to win the championship, the pressure was still on Whittaker to put himself back in the title frame at UFC 298 – and he delivered.
“I’m looking to make amends with Dricus. I’m not going anywhere. I’m back,” Whittaker said post-fight.
Costa got through with two slick head kicks in the early stages of the first round while Whittaker later had his rival backing up with a perfectly-timed counter right hand.
It was a calculated opening from both fighters, with Whittaker in particular starting to get through with his combinations and seemingly looked on his way to take the opening round of the bout.
Whittaker v Costa: Full Fight Highlights | 08:16
That was until Costa put an exclamation mark on the final 10 seconds of the round, stunning Whittaker with a stunning spinning head kick that could have easily ended the fight.
The Australian though was able to stay on his feet and survive until the bell, leaving UFC Hall of Fame fighter Michael Bisping impressed in commentary.
“The fact Whittaker stayed on his feet, that is incredible,” Bisping said.
Whittaker recovered well from that late setback to land some early strikes in the second round, later checking another head kick from Costa before firing one of his own at the Brazilian, who blocked it and stuck his tongue out at the Australian, confident and comfortable in the position he found himself in at that point of the fight.
Whittaker was left bloodied by the end of the second but stepped it up by mixing up his offence, although if there was one constant for the former champion it was the continued success he found with his calf kicks as the fight went to a third and final round.
Whittaker was able to get through with a big right hand but Costa ate it right up, showing little sign of slowing down as he used low kicks to close the distance on the Australian.
Costa attempted another spinning head kick but Whittaker was alert to it and moved out of the way as the fight entered its final 60 seconds.
Whittaker looked to have briefly hurt Costa with a beautiful low kick and was in general landing more shots in the final stages of the round, then shooting for a takedown but unsuccessful as the co-main event went the distance in what Jon Anik described as an “instant classic”.
Whittaker somehow survives MASSIVE kick | 00:43
EARLIER:
‘NIGHTMARE’ IN WAITING AS DVALISHVILI DOMINATES CEJUDO
There was the distinct possibility that Henry Cejudo could have been making his final appearance in the octagon on Sunday when he fought Merab Dvalishvili on the main card of UFC 298.
Or, it instead may have been the start of his path back to a shot at winning a third division title.
It is why Cejudo described it as an “all or nothing” fight earlier in the week.
“It’s either gold or bust,” he said.
“I either win it all or I’m not going to have it all and I’m out.”
Well, Cejudo looked good early but there is no doubting Dvalishvili is deserving of his shot at the crown – if he wasn’t already, improving his incredible win streak to 10 fights on Sunday.
Dvalishvili already had taken care of former UFC champions Petr Yan and Jose Aldo and now you can add Cejudo to that list.
‘Soak in all those boos haters!’ | 01:49
Cejudo made an early statement in the first round, landing a hard left hook that briefly looked to have Dvalishvili stumbling as the American advanced forward and worked to dictate terms early.
Dvalishvili was able to respond with a takedown soon after but Cejudo later escaped without much damage, continuing what had been an impressive opening round for the two-time champion.
Dvalishvili, who had a few nice shots of his own, then got a bit too aggressive as he tried to get Cejudo to the ground and instead ended up on his back in a key turning point in the first round.
Dvalishvili fired back with a big shot in the opening stages of the second that had Cejudo stumbling, with the Georgian then scoring a takedown.
It was just the start of Dvalishvili regaining momentum in the fight as Cejudo began to tire, setting up a thrilling third and final round.
Unfortunately for the former champion it was much of the same in the third as Dvalishvili dominated, at one point literally picking up his rival and carrying him across the octagon before slamming Cejudo down while Mark Zuckerberg watched on laughing.
“How many bantamweights are looking at this and saying, ‘That is a nightmare?’. All of them,” Joe Rogan said.
“Just getting mauled in the third round.”
Zuck & Merab chat as he DOMINATES Cejudo | 00:38
TAFA LEFT ‘BATTERED AND BRUISED’ IN TKO LOSS
Junior Tafa’s left leg took a beating on Sunday as Marcos Rogerio de Lima scored a second-round TKO victory.
Tafa, who was born in New Zealand but fights out of Queensland and under the Australian flag, had taken the fight on just one day notice after brother Justin had to pull out due to injury, having initially been scheduled to fight Karl Williams on a UFC Fight Night card in March.
Tafa found himself in immediate trouble as de Lima landed a nasty calf kick that had the Australian looking seriously compromised and at risk of being finished early.
Strangely though de Lima opted to try shoot for the takedown instead of capitalising on Tafa’s limited movement with the calf issue by keeping the fight on the feet.
“I don’t get that,” Joe Rogan said in commentary of de Lima’s strategy, describing Tafa’s injured leg as “almost useless”.
Brutal leg kick floors Tafa | 00:45
That was only further illustrated when Tafa limped to his feet after the opening round, having spent the second half of the period on the ground after de Lima finally landed a takedown after a nice combination had the Australian backing up towards the fence.
“Can’t even stand on it… he’s in agony right now,” Rogan said.
“That leg is battered and bruised.”
Tafa’s corner implored him to switch to southpaw and initially he started the second round in orthodox before making the change.
Tafa landed one big shot before de Lima floored Tafa again with another crushing calf kick to bring an end to the fight.
FIREWORKS WITH TWO EARLY KNOCKOUTS AMID CRAZY INJURY REVEAL
Danny Barlow also goes by ‘LeftHand2God’ and proved why that is the case on Sunday, destroying Josh Quinlan in a vicious third-round knockout in his UFC debut.
Barlow, who was making his UFC debut after a stoppage victory on the Contenders Series, dropped Quinlan with a thundering counter left hand and refused to let up.
Even as Quinlan somehow kept getting back to his feet Barlow also kept coming back as he swarmed his opponent until the referee had no choice but to step in.
It was quite the statement for Barlow, who stopped Raheam Forest after just 79 seconds in the Contenders Series to earn his shot in the UFC.
Making Barlow’s win even more incredible was the fact he later revealed that he suffered a broken arm in the first round of the fight.
Elsewhere, Zhang Mingyang kicked off the preliminary card with a bang as he knocked out Brendson Ribeiro in just one minute and 41 seconds in what was also his UFC debut.
Mingyang landed a brutal combination to bring an early end to the fight, first with the right hand and then immediately following it up with a brual left hook that had Ribeiro crashing to the canvas.
The Mountain Tiger then guaranteed the finish with a series of hammer fists, making quite the impression in his first UFC fight to improve his overall MMA record to 17-6.