At the Honda Center in Anaheim on February 17, the Australian fighter who is known for his punching power will defend his featherweight title against an elite opponent.
UFC 298 PPV: On Saturday night, UFC 298 will take place, featuring an all-star match-up between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Ilia Topuria.
At the Honda Center in Anaheim on February 17, the Australian fighter who is known for his punching power will defend his featherweight title against an elite opponent.
Volkanovski is undefeated at 145 pounds and has won all 16 of his professional fights at featherweight.
‘El Matador’ has fought 14 times and has won six of those contests in the UFC. He will be attempting to become Spain’s first world champion when he faces Volkanovski.
As a result of Volkanovski’s outstanding striking, he averages a significant punch differential of +3.03 per minute, the highest in featherweight history, better than Conor McGregor in second place with +2.51.
His punching improves as the fight reaches the latter rounds, rather than slowing down. During the entire fight, he averages 6.8 significant strikes per minute, but in the fifth round, he averages 7.52 significant strikes per minute, the fourth highest rate ever recorded in that round.
With a strike rate of 57.1 percent, the Australian is the third most efficient striker in featherweight history.
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Volkanovski may surprise everyone with his statistics, but he is faced with a formidable opponent in Topuria. As he has progressed in his mixed martial arts career, ‘El Matador’ has become increasingly comfortable on the feet. He began his professional mixed martial arts career with seven consecutive submission victories, six of which came in the first round.
His most recent fight against Josh Emmett in his first UFC main event demonstrated that Topuria’s striking was on par with the best in the division.
During his UFC career, Ilia has knocked down four of his six opponents. His average knockdown rate of 0.81 per 15 minutes at featherweight is the fifth highest of all active 145ers.
In addition to his strong defense, the challenger has successfully avoided 67.4 percent of his featherweight opponents’ significant striking attempts against him, which ranks third in the history of the division.
We will have to wait and see which of the two will emerge victorious from Saturday’s fight. Volkanovski appears to have the advantage in volume and accuracy, while Topuria has the advantage in power.
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UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria prelims will air on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Preliminaries will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET. The main card will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET.
The cost of UFC Fight Pass is $9.99 per month or the annual subscription at $95.99.
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