Ilia Topuria expects to have his hand raised in his first UFC title fight, with the judges not being part of the equation.
On Saturday, Topuria faces the tall task of attempting to dethrone long-reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski when they collide in the main event of UFC 298 in Anaheim, Calif. Neither man has ever tasted defeat competing at 145 pounds and barring a draw or no-contest, something has got to give.
Volkanovski’s big game experience could give him the edge, but Topuria has studied plenty of the champion’s tape and he doubts that Volkanovski can match him in any department.
“I know what he’s going to bring to the table because that’s what he always brings,” Topuria said at Wednesday’s UFC 298 media day. “So he’s going to try to kick me, as we know he’s got strong kicks, he’s going to try to move around me. He’s going to try to put some hands in there and some combos and after the kicks, come in with some handwork and try to mix in some combos and try to pressure me to go against the fence and do some cage work as well, but that’s all he’s got. He’s done very well, we’ve seen all throughout his journey in the UFC, but that’s all he has.
“There’s so much more for me to offer and I’ve always heard these things, I’ve heard people say, ‘I’m better than you on the ground. I’m better than you in the wrestling. I’m better than you in striking’. And that does not come to fruition. He needs to understand one thing: that he hasn’t seen me, that he has seen a lot of other fighters I named here that were mentioned, I am not any of these fighters that he’s faced before. I am not any of the guys that he’s [beaten]. I’m Ilia Topuria and I’m going to do something to him, I’m going to finish him off.
“I understand that he doesn’t have knockout power. I have knockout power. He goes on volume, that’s how he wins his fights. He’s not a finisher, when a fight goes to the ground, he’s not known for finishing. So I’m a different breed and I’m going to beat him up. If he doesn’t believe it, if that’s not what he thinks, and whoever thinks the contrary, screw them.”
Volkanovski’s list of conquests includes a litany of UFC superstars, including Max Holloway on three occasions, Jose Aldo, Brian Ortega, Chad Mendes, and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. His lone blemishes have occurred in higher weight classes, with his most recent losses occurring in a pair of title fights against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Their second fight ended when Volkanovski was caught with a head kick in Round 1. Topuria is confident that he can replicate that result.
“I see myself knocking him out in the first round,” Topuria said when asked for a prediction.
Twelve of Topuria’s fourteen career victories have come by way of knockout or submission. He has already compiled an impressive UFC highlight reel in just six appearances for the promotion, with a submission of Bryce Mitchell and thudding knockouts of Jai Herbert, Ryan Hall, and Damon Jackson on his résumé.
Though Topuria hasn’t fought the caliber of competition that Volkanovski has, he expects to stand alongside the best of the best at featherweight when his career is over.
“As one of the greatest in the featherweight division,” Topuria said when asked for a career projection should he win on Saturday. “They’re going to remember me too as they’re going to remember Jose Aldo in the division, Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanovski, I’m going to put myself in that book.”
This story originally appeared on MMA fighting