Josh Emmett is on the fence when it comes to UFC 298’s main event.
Featherweight gold is on the line when UFC Champion Alexander Volkanovski defends his title against Ilia Topuria. Still undefeated at 145lbs, Volkanovski looks to bounce back from a second defeat to Islam Makhachev at lightweight. Topuria, on the other hand, has yet to be beaten in fourteen fights.
‘El Matador’ rides into his first world title fight with wins over the aforementioned Emmett, Bryce Mitchell and Ryan Hall.
Prediction?
Emmett gives his thoughts on the matchup between the reigning champ and his former foe.
“It’s hard for me to predict fights but I can argue how both guys get it done,” Emmett said on the Jaxxon Podcast. “Volk is one of the pound-for-pound best. He continues to improve and kinda prove people wrong as well. It’s always like the fight, like okay, ‘he’s gonna lose now’, but then he finally got to the point where he’s earned people’s respect.
“But Ilia is young, he’s hungry, he’s talented. I know he’s been saying a lot of stuff, like, how he’s gonna go out there and finish him in the 1st round and stuff like that. Hopefully, he’s not overlooking him. I don’t think he is. I think that’s just kinda a part of his persona. I don’t know. It’s hard for me to bet against such a dominant champion.”
Emmett: Volkanovski Has ‘Earned His Respect’ As A ‘Great Champion’
Into his featherweight title reign, Volkanovski has taken some side quests at lightweight, falling just short of double-champ status at UFC 284 and UFC 294. Between those fights with Makhachev, ‘The Great’ did unify his title against interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290.
Emmett applauds Volkanovski for not stalling the division, citing he’s a ‘good person’ inside and outside of the Octagon.
“I don’t, at all,” Emmett said, when asked if he had a problem with Volkanovski fighting at lightweight. “He was a pound for pound #1. The guy’s earned his respect. Let him do whatever the hell he wants to do. He’s bouncing back and forth. He’s super active. He’s the one that was campaigning for Yair and I to fight for the interim title. I have no bad taste in my mouth. He’s a good dude. Like, he’s a great great champ. Great champion, like and he’s a good person as well.
“When I was fighting Yair [Rodriguez] in Perth earlier this year, he brought his belt and he’s like, “hey, you wanna hold this? This is what you’re fighting for.” He’s a good dude. He like gave me his belt [to hold].”
Josh Emmett is coming off one of the biggest fights of his career, where he finished Bryce Mitchell in a KO-of-the-year contender at UFC 296.
