Joe Lopez suggests that Ilia Topuria simply took advantage of his opportunity to land a powerful punch at UFC 298. Alexander Volkanovski, who held the featherweight title, lost to Topuria in the main event of the night by a knockout in the second round. Despite the judges scoring Round 1 in favor of Volkanovski, his head coach believes that he was starting to gain control before getting caught. Lopez expressed disappointment in the result, stating that he knows Volkanovski possesses superior skills. While they were aware of Topuria’s knockout power, Lopez seemed to imply that it was the only thing they had to be concerned about. Topuria has secured four of his last six victories by knockout. Volkanovski, a former five-time defending champion, immediately called for a rematch with Topuria. However, Topuria has been dismissive of most top contenders and even called out Conor McGregor in his post-fight speech. Despite this, he mentioned that he would be open to a rematch if the UFC were to offer it.
According to the Source mmajunkie.usatoday.com