**UFC 298 returns to California this Sunday with a highly anticipated main event.** Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is set to defend his title against the red-hot challenger Ilia Topuria at the Honda Center in Anaheim, USA. In this title fight preview, BetKing, the best online sports betting platform presents you with professional betting tips along with the massive betting offers on all types of bets in a bid help you increase your chances of securing big wins this weekend.
**Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria:** Alexander Volkanovski recently faced a setback in his bid of becoming a two-division champion, suffering a knockout defeat against Islam Makhachev in October. This loss came after a previous unsuccessful attempt six months earlier against a top-tier opponent. However, Volkanovski has demonstrated remarkable resilience in defending his 145-pound title for over four years. His upcoming challenger, Topuria, presents a formidable challenge. Undefeated with a record of 14-0, Topuria is considered by many to have the potential for global stardom. His impressive skill set includes dominant victories over notable opponents like Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell, Jai Herbert, and Ryan Hall.
**Volkanovski fight style, strength and weaknesses:** As stated earlier, Volkanovski is the current UFC featherweight champion, the 35-year-old is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holder and a national wrestling gold medallist. Heading into this fight, he has recorded 13 KO wins, 3 submission wins along with 7 first round finishes. The Australian fighter possesses an explosive knockout power, excellent feints, solid wrestling ability, great footwork, and accurate counter punch combination. However, while Volkanovski strength are very evident he has struggled a couple times dealing with hard hooks, leg kicks, takedowns, transitions and scrambles.
**Ilia Topuria fight style, strength and weaknesses:** Like Volknovski, Topuria is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holder who possesses a powerful KO ability. However, he is different in terms of style and approach. Topuria come across as a very fast aggressive fighter, who like to put pressure on his opponents. Heading into this fight, Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist has impressive 8 submission wins, 4 Knockout wins and 9 first round finishes. He is a fighter that likes to finish off fights very early. His strength lies in his excellent grappling especially in transition. He possesses a very good wrestling ability along with a good boxing technique. However, Topuria has showed inconsistencies while dealing with dangerous front-headlock positions. In addition, due to his bullish and explosive approach, he tends to expose his defence. Against a more calculated and experienced fighter that could be too much of a risk to take.
**The Verdict:** For our bet prediction, the odds are tight despite Volkanovski's esteemed reputation as one of the greatest featherweights of all time. However, it's important to consider the questions surrounding Volkanovski, such as his age (35) and the recent knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev just four months ago. Yet, we must also acknowledge Volkanovski's remarkable skills that have earned him the status of a UFC legend: his ability to neutralize opponents' attacks and his extraordinary knack for escaping perilous situations. While Topuria may pose a significant challenge, Volkanovski remains undefeated in his featherweight career, boasting an impressive record of 18 fights. Another successful title defence would bring him closer to matching Jose Aldo's divisional record. However, despite the high odds of this fight ending in under 2.5 rounds due to the challenger's explosive style, we anticipate a longer contest given Toporia's lack of experience against fighters of Volkanovski's calibre. And while the outcome of this match remains uncertain, BetKing’s best odds favour a successful Volkanovski title defence in over 3.5 rounds.
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