ANAHEIM: Ilia Topuria became the new featherweight champion last night, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski during their main event bout at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California.
Topuria (14-0-0) took the belt from Volkanovski (26-3-0) by sending him to the mat with a punch to the neck area at 3:32 of the second round.
It marked Topuria’s first victory since June 24, 2023, when he defeated Josh Emmett by unanimous decision.
Volkanovski has now dropped back-to-back fights and three of his past four.
In other action yesterday, Robert Whittaker (26-7-0) bested Paulo Costa (14-3-0) by unanimous decision in middleweight action.
The cards read 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.
Ian Machado Garry (14-0-0) won by split decision in a welterweight bout, Merab Dvalishvili (17-4-0) prevailed by unanimous decision in a bantamweight fight and Anthony Hernandez (12-2-0) was victorious via submission in a middleweight battle.