The changing of the guard at featherweight is official. UFC 298 went down last night and Ilia Topuria dethroned legend Alexander Volkanovski with a brutal knockout. Robert Whitaker survived a wheel kick flush to the face to stay atop the middleweight contenders. And Ian Machado Garry nicely passed his stiffest test to date. Read on for a recap of the UFC 289 main card.
Ilia Topuria ends Volk’s reign with wicked one punch knockout
Ilia Topuria is the real deal. “El Matador” did exactly what he said he would do. The Georgian and Spanish fighter brashly claimed he would make it look easy in destroying all-time great Volkanovski. After a close first round that saw Volkanovski land a ton of kicks it was a powerful and perfectly placed right hand that made Topuria prescient.
Topuria, seemingly set to be a big star in the UFC, retained his perfect record while improving to 15-0. He now has five finishes in seven UFC bouts. Topuria has raised his profile in the run up to this fight with his loud swagger but as a younger fighter from Europe may not yet be well known in the states. El Matador, at 27 years old, has a chance for a long run as king. He is a high-level striker and grappler who blends athleticism and big power with sharp technique.
Old man Volkanovski has now suffered two brutal knockouts in the span of four months. Much has been made of the 35-year-old “The Great” defying father time now for a spell. And everyone knows father time’s record. Hopefully the Aussie takes a prolonged and well-deserved break from fighting.
But there can be no doubt even if Volk never wears the strap again that he was one of the greatest featherweights of all time. Some will say Aldo is the GOAT and can make a strong argument for that case, but Volkanovski is certainly no worse than top two all time.
Robert Whittaker survives nasty head kick to out strike Paulo Costa
Robert Whittaker reminded everyone that he’s still at the top of the game in the middleweight division in an entertaining striking battle with the dangerous Paulo Costa. Costa nearly finished the fight at the end of the first round. And if it hadn’t been for Whittaker’s iron chin and short time the flush wheel kick by “Borrachinha” likely would have ended the fight.
The first round was an entertaining striking battle as Whittaker repeatedly abused Costa’s lead leg with low kicks that produced massive swelling on the Brazilian. Whittaker also had success with the jab. The round was in Whittaker’s favor until Costa had the misfortune to time his wheel kick a bit late. The fight had to be just seconds from over but the horn saved Bobby Knuckles.
It was immediately clear at the start of round two that Whittaker had recovered well between rounds. Costa had success with the jab early in the round but a steady attack and higher pace from Whittaker gave the round to the Aussie as he started to find his mark more as the round progressed.
The entertaining striking battle continued in the final round as both men had success but Whittaker was once more the busier fighter and landed seven more significant strikes to take the final frame and the fight on judges’ scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Whittaker called out Dricus Du Plessis in his post-fight comments. At middleweight the Reaper has lost to only Israel Adesanya and Du Plessis. At 33 years old Whittaker looks to still be in form and shape to take another run at the title.
Ian Machado Garry out strikes Geoff Neal in split decision
Ian Machado Garry passed the stiffest test of his career in the form of a game Geoff Neal on the strength of his long-range striking game and some nasty knees up the middle. Machado Garry has played the heel and seems to revel in the negative attention and the brash Irishman continues to build his perfect 14-0 record.
The judges’ scorecards were two in favor of Machado Garry 30-27 and one for Neal 29-28. The first two rounds of the fight were close. In the first round Garry set the tone for the fight as he largely controlled it with good distance management, landing kicks and jabs. Garry also landed knees early as he would often throughout the fight. Both the first and second rounds were close as Neal would periodically have success with punches but overall wasn’t active enough. Garry continued to land punishing knees in the third round as the striking gap between the fighters widened. Garry also did well with his footwork to stymie numerous attempts from Neal.
Meran Dvalishvili outpaces Henry Cejudo
Seattle Fights is with the loud majority of MMA fans (and apparently the UFC) that are not all that hyped to watch Merab Dvalishvili. Stylistically the Georgian only seems to appeal to those grappling oriented fans who like tons of cardio and pressure, mixed in with takedowns but low level striking and rarely a finish. In this fight, Henry Cejudo buzzed Dvalishvili in round one to score a brief knockdown, but the rest of the way it was Dvalishvili’s pace and pressure that secured the unanimous decision 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez taps Roman Kopylov with second round RNC
It was a classic striker versus grappler matchup and Anthony Hernandez notched another one for the grapplers. In the first round, Kopylov stiffed all of Hernandez’s takedown attempts and clearly showed to be the better striker. Kopylov landed several nasty body kicks in the opening frame.
Kopylov’s takedown defense had held up well coming into the fight as he had defended twenty consecutive takedown attempts. But it only took one takedown for Hernandez to show his vast superiority on the feet. Hernandez was tenacious with his pressure, didn’t give Kopylov any room to defend, quickly advanced position and after one brief attempt was able to adjust and quickly get the submission on his second attempt. As soon as Hernandez sunk in the choke he flashed a huge smile as he knew it was just a matter of time before the tap or a nap for Kopylov. With the victory Hernandez is now on five fight UFC win streak with four finishes. The choke ended Kopylov’s four fight win streak.