Josh Emmett has given his assessment of how Ilia Topuria was able to capture the UFC Featherweight Championship from Alexander Volkanovski.
Things were quite competitive between “El Matador” and “The Great” in round one. In the second stanza, however, Volk was on the receiving end of a flurry, with one last devastating hook dropping him to the canvas. Topuria knocked his opponent out cold to capture UFC gold for the first time in his pro MMA career.
Emmett, a former opponent of Ilia’s, has explained how the newly-minted 145-pound king got the job done.
Josh Emmett On How Ilia Topuria Knocked Alexander Volkanovski Out
Emmett has hopped on his YouTube channel to give some insight from a fighter’s perspective on what led to Alexander Volkanovski falling to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 in Anaheim.
“He did a great job,” Emmett said of Topuria. “I think he went out there, he stuck to his game plan, he stayed calm and composed even though he was fighting one of the best featherweights of all time. I feel like he’s kind of a slow starter. He started the round off and he doesn’t do a whole lot. He’s just kind of feeling out his opponent, he’s collecting a lot of data and trying to get the timing and seeing how fast these individuals are. I felt like Volkanovski, he’s fast, and he was doing a good job of landing his jab on Ilia, but I feel like after the first round concluded [Topuria] got just enough data to go out there and implement his game plan. I feel like he wasn’t too threatened by the power, and he had done enough to get his timing where Ilia would start to open up, and he was trying to cut him off and get Volkanovski’s back against the cage where he can land a three, four-punch combination.”
Emmett heaped praise on the new featherweight titleholder, saying that the doubters can’t deny what “El Matador” has achieved now.
“So, congratulations to the new champion,” Emmett said. “You know, we’re all trying to achieve the same thing and that’s what the fight business is. Anything can happen on any given day. Maybe one day you’re supposed to fight and you’re just not on that day. Maybe it just wasn’t your day. So, it’s hard to knock someone’s success even though leading up to it I feel like people were thinking Ilia was way too cocky and he wasn’t like a fan favorite at the time. Everyone was cheering for Volk and stuff in the arena and chanting his name, but at the end of the day Ilia achieved greatness.”
Emmett admitted that despite losing to Topuria last year, he can’t help but feel happy for him. With that said, Josh has the confidence to work his way to a rematch with the new featherweight ruler.
Here is the full video of Josh Emmett breaking down Ilia Topuria’s win over Alexander Volkanovski:
