Mixed martial arts (MMA) reached a peak of popularity never before seen in Spain in February 2024. Ilia Topuria (16-0) He managed to win the UFC featherweight title, putting our country on the map internationally and allowing the sport to become known outside the niche. What followed next was something historic. The Matador, as he is nicknamed, was received by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, by the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, and even by the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who announced that He would be granted the Spanish nationality that he had been requesting for so many years.
All of this was thanks to Topuria’s victory against a legendary UFC fighter: Alexander Volkanovskiwho had never been defeated in that weight division. And the Hispanic-Georgian did it in the best possible way: knocking him out in the second round, leaving UFC fans in complete shock. Now, after having successfully defended his world title against Max Holloway last October in Abu Dhabi, everything indicates that there will be a rematch between the Australian and Topuria and that UFC 314 in Miami is proposed as the perfect setting to host this duel.
In fact, Volkanovski himself was in charge of confirming ABC’s information, which indicated that this is the roadmap that the American company has planned. “That’s what’s going to happen, we’ve had a lot of conversations, but there’s nothing official,” said the former champion in an interview with Lucas Tracy MMA on YouTube. Something that makes a lot of sense, well Topuria accepted at the foot of the cage that this would be his next fight after knocking out Holloway at the Etihad Arena in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
In addition, Volkanovski also spoke about his performance in that fight, in which he came out in an evasive manner but had a more than acceptable first round. However, it was in the second when Topuria accelerated and caught him. But, according to the Australian, he was never in the fight. «The last time I was there, I just didn’t fight. If I fight and lose, I wouldn’t care. But the fact that I didn’t feel like I fought… that doesn’t sit well with me,” he commented in the aforementioned interview. Be that as it may, if everything continues its course, Volkanovski will have the opportunity to make amends in three months, in a fight that, now, could be Topuria’s last at featherweight, since he has already expressed his intention to move up to lightweight, where Islam Makhachev could wait for him.
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