The latest blood-fest that is UFC 298 gets underway this Sunday, the 18th of February, with Aussie Alexander Volkanovski defending his Featherweight Title against the unbeaten Ilia Topuria from Germany, at the Honda Center in California, to be beamed live into the RE Hotel in Toowong from 1:00 p.m. Brisbane time.
Volkanovski was the first Aussie to win a UFC championship and has had 5 successful title defences.
Volkanovski likes to go long. His average fight time is 17 minutes, 40 seconds, which is the longest average in the Featherweight Division. His 57.1% “significant strike accuracy” is third on the all time list in the Division.
However, Topuria’s 67.4% “significant strike defense” is third on the all time list in the division and his record of 0.81 knockdowns for every 15 minutes of fighting ranks sixth of all time in the division, with his 1.62 submissions per 15 minutes ranking seventh on the all-time list in the Division.
This fight could be one for the ages.
The UFC 298 main card also features another Aussie, former UFC Middleweight Champion, Robert Whittaker who fights Paulo Costa from Brazil in the Middleweight Division. Whittaker is knocking on the door of another title challenge in his current ranking at #3, Costa is ranked #6.
Whittaker has landed 7 knockdowns in his fight history but “The Eraser” will be in his grill early in his return to the Octagon after a two-year absence. In his last fight in 2021, he turned up 25 pounds over the middleweight limit.
This fight was supposed to take place last February 12, but a contract dispute means it will happen instead this Sunday, shown live on the big screen at the RE Hotel from 1:00 p.m. Toowong time.