UFC 298 - Volkanovski vs Topuria

Great card. Actually the next 3 weeks is gonna be insane. This card, mexico city, then 299…. All great cards.

Volk did not look great his last fight but that was also 2 weeks notice.

Touporia is an animal though. That will be a great fight.

This card is loaded.

quote:

---

MAIN CARD

Featherweight Title Fight
(C) Alex Volkanovski vs (3) Ilia Topuria

Middleweight
(3) Robert Whittaker vs (6) Paulo Costa

Welterweight
(8) Geoff Neal vs (10) Ian Machado-Garry

Bantamweight
(2) Merab Dvalishili vs (3) Henry Cejudo

Middleweight
(15) Anthony Hernandez vs Roman Kopylov

---

I think Topuria completely handles Volk in shocking fashion as well. He’s extremely good, I’m very excited to see him fight someone on his level

quote:

---

Who do you have in the merab/Cejudo fight??

---

Thats a tough one. I think you have to lean merab. Very intriguing matchup

Very interested to see who will be in the main event for 300

Press conference starting

Haha volk came dressed as a pawpaw

quote:

---

This card is better than 300. Can’t wait for it.

---

They haven't even announced the main event for 300

It's crazy how much each fighter's reputation depends on winning their next fight. If Volk loses this fight, all of a sudden whispers could grow about, has he lost a step? Then in retrospect, the lighthearted dressing up as an old man bit could seem more like Volk was betraying his own insecurity / doubts / fear. Was anyone even really calling him an old man? Maybe Topuria said that in trash talk and I missed it. Either way, this is a crucial / important / pivotal fight for Volk. He either re-establishes his dominance tonight or he'll have a lot of hard questions to answer.

But even for the best of the best, or maybe especially for the best of the best, everything depends on winning their next fight. Look at Usman, one head-shot-dead out of nowhere and he's on a three fight losing streak now. He went from greatest welterweight of all time to people wondering who he can beat. Adesanya gets embarrassed by Sean Strickland? Have they cracked the code on him now? Does everyone have the decoder ring to beat him now?

Look at Conor, does anyone need a win more than Conor? If he loses his next fight, I think a lot of people will be calling for him to retire already. Tony Ferguson being the cautionary tale.

Stray thoughts -

Interesting that Cejudo is fighting again. After that Sterling fight, he sounded like he was only interested in title fights. Good for him, though--if he still feels like he's got it, then does he have anything better to do?

Will be interesting to see how Ian Machado Garry does. I lost a lot of respect for him after the whole WAG drama. Giving the finger to Neil Magny. Garry might be more tolerable if he fully embraces a heel-type persona.

This is wild--Junior Tafa is stepping in to fight in place of his brother, Justin Tafa, on just one day's notice. Junior Tafa seems pretty cool. He would have beat Mohammed Usman if they had stayed standing.

That's all. We got fights tonight, baws--big ones IIIIiiiiiIIIIIT'S TIME!

quote:

---

It's crazy how much each fighter's reputation depends on winning their next fight.

---

It’s just the modern day sports culture. Everything is about the upcoming game. If you win, people give you GoAT status. If you lose, you were never really good. Then a week later, it’s wash, rinse, repeat,