Alexander Volkanovski is looking forward to humbling Ilia Topuria at UFC 298.
Volkanovski is set to defend his featherweight title in the main event of UFC 298 in February against Ilia Topuria. It’s a very intriguing matchup and heading into the fight, the Aussie knows he has people doubting him.
Alexander Volkanovski is coming off a knockout loss to Islam Makhachev in a fight he took on less than 10 days’ notice for the lightweight title. Given he’s coming off a loss, Volkanovski knows people are doubting him, but he expects to humble Topuria.
Volkanovski vows to humble Topuria
“This guy thinks he’s the man. It’s funny. For me, I’ve always wanted to earn my stripes. Earn these positions, put myself in there, and earn that respect. This guy’s just getting things given to him and probably not even that much but he thinks he’s the man. The beautiful thing about it is I get to teach a kid a lesson,” Volkanovski said to Who The Fook Are These Guys.
“Ready to go out there, I’m hoping to teach him a lesson, humble him a little bit, and still let him wake up to himself and then he can bounce back when my time’s done. He needs a bit of humbling… 26, perfect age. Let me go out there, he needs the world to see. Let me do my thing in front of the world, little humbling experience for him, he maybe needs a bit of embarrassment and snap things into gear and maybe he can one day be a great champion. Right now he wants to act like how he’s acting, I’m just gonna teach him a lesson, I’m gonna embarrass him, he’s young enough to bounce back in a positive way. I’ll play teacher the next few months.”
Alexander Volkanovski believes Ilia Topuria was handed a title shot, so he’s confident he will be too much too soon for the undefeated fighter.