UFC 298 Results & Highlights: Ilia Topuria Sleeps Alexander Volkanovski
After months of build up, fans were finally treated to a massive UFC 298 card that took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
The night’s headlining fight was a huge featherweight title bout between defending champion Alexander Volkanovski and unbeaten challenger Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovski spent UFC 298 fight week playing into Topuria’s claim that the champion's age would keep him from defending his belt for a sixth time, but "El Matador" made good on his pre-fight promise and brutally knocked out the Australian in the second round.
The co-main event pitted former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker against Paulo Costa, who was stepping into the cage for the first time since UFC 278.
“The Eraser” still entered the night as the promotion's #6-ranked middleweight despite his inactivity, but outside of an incredible spinning kick at the end of round one it was largely Whittaker that controlled things on the feet to earn a unanimous decision.
The night’s stacked main card included Ian Machado Garry extending his unbeaten record against Geoff Neal, and Merab Dvalishvili also added to his lengthy winning streak against former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. The PPV action kicked off with an impressive submission win from Anthony Hernandez in a highly-anticipated middleweight bout against Roman Kopylov.
You can find highlights from the event below, as well as the full results for every fight.
Danny Barlow def. Josh Quinlan
Mingyang Zhang def. Brendson Ribeiro
Marcos Rogério de Lima def. Junior Tafa
Anthony Hernandez def. Roman Kopylov
Ilia Topuria def. Alexander Volkanovski
Main Card: (ESPN+ PPV, 10:00 p.m. ET)
• Main Event: Ilia Topuria def. Alexander Volkanovski via KO: R2, 3:32 – For the UFC Featherweight Championship
• Co-Main Event: Robert Whittaker def. Paulo Costa via Unanimous Decision (29-28x2, 30-27)
•Ian Machado Garry def. Geoff Neal via Split Decision (30-27x2, 29-28)
• Merab Dvalishvili def. Henry Cejudo via Unanimous Decision (29-28x3)
• Anthony Hernandez def. Roman Kopylov via Submission (Rear Naked Choke): R2, 3:23
Preliminary Card: (ESPN+, 8:00 p.m. ET)
• Amanda Lemos def. Mackenzie Dern via Unanimous Decision (29-28x3)
• Marcos Rogério de Lima def. Junior Tafa via TKO: R2, 1:14
• Rinya Nakamura def. Carlos Vera via Unanimous Decision (30-27x3)
• Mingyang Zhang def. Brendson Ribeiro via KO: R1, 1:41
Early Preliminary Card: (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)t
• Danny Barlow def. Josh Quinlan via TKO: R3, 1:18
• Oban Elliott def. Val Woodburn via Unanimous Decision (30-27x2, 29-28)
• Miranda Maverick def. Andrea Lee via Unanimous Decision (30-27x2, 29-28)
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