Alexander Volkanovski has expressed his desire for a rematch with Ilia Topuria following his devastating loss at UFC 298. The former featherweight champion suffered a knockout defeat at the hands of Topuria, and now he is determined to reclaim his title. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Volkanovski discussed his loss and called for an immediate rematch. He also mentioned the possibility of the event taking place in Spain, which both he and the UFC CEO expressed interest in. Despite facing criticism and calls for retirement from some fans, Volkanovski remains determined to regain his throne and acknowledged Topuria’s skill in defeating him and claiming the title.
Despite Volkanovski’s impressive championship reign, Topuria has shown no interest in a rematch. Instead, he is focused on headlining an event in his home country of Spain. Dana White, the president of the UFC, has also expressed a desire to hold an event in Spain soon. As a result, Volkanovski has positioned himself as a potential front-runner for the event. Having defeated Volkanovski via knockout in the second round to become the featherweight champion, Topuria feels he has earned the right to choose his opponents and is looking forward to facing new challengers.
During the post-fight press conference for UFC 298, Topuria briefly considered offering Volkanovski a rematch out of respect for him as a person. However, he ultimately decided to move on and focus on other featherweight contenders. He expressed his desire for fresh faces and new challengers, indicating that he is not interested in revisiting his bout with Volkanovski.
Even before their initial encounter, Topuria had made it clear that he had no intention of granting Volkanovski a rematch. He also dismissed the idea of offering a title shot to any of the top five featherweights. Instead, he is seeking new challenges and recently called out another fighter, although the callout was deemed unreasonable due to the significant weight difference between them.
According to the Source firstsportz.com